My Lost Sorrow
by My Demonic Side
Summary: My father was murdered, my mother was assassinated, and me... I'm just a college student looking for revenge. RobxRae First Fanfic, criticism welcome.
1. New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you find familiar.

**Near Future: Raven POV**

_ I sat on the edge of the skyscraper overlooking Gotham City. Two months ago I was a normal college girl and now, I run around at night, connecting the dots to find my mother's killer and the one who made me like this… a freak! Most times I feel as if I'm wasting my life. The only thing tha's keeping me relatively sane is Richard. Richard is my newfound love and my greatest support. But now, as I sit here on top of the tallest Wayne Enterprises building, I think to myself _"Is it really worth it to ruin my relationship with Richard by being Raven?" _I have been asking myself that question ever since we became friends. At the start of college was the first time I truly talked to him and the last time I saw my mother… _

**Raquel POV**

I stepped out of the car to see my future school. Gotham University was supposed to be one of the top 5 schools in the country, being that it had nationally ranked professors and courses. But when I looked at it, all I could say was…

"Wow."

It had a Victorian look to it with plants climbing up the walls of the residence halls. Then, there was a huge willow tree off to the left with students laying under it reading, and an immense fountain in front of the hall also with some students sitting on the rim where one guy was playing guitar with loads of girls sitting in front of him. When I saw the guy playing guitar my hope sparked.

I have a passion for guitar, which was triggered10 years ago. My father, who I was especially close to, loved to play guitar. He said it was how he serenaded my mother into marrying him. He tried to teach me but I always put it off for something else. When he was murdered 6 years ago by a family friend, I was devastated. I decided that, in honor of my father, I would learn how to play. I took lessons from the best of best (seeing that we were relatively wealthy) and I advanced quickly. Now, at the age of 18, I could play any genre of music with ease (but, right now, I prefer classical.) Lately I've never really had the time to play being so busy with college applications and studying for finals. But now seeing this -really hot, yet familiar- guy playing guitar just lit up my hopes of playing again like the fourth of July.

"Raquel, do you want to check in?" my mom, Arella Roth said, ignoring the wolf-whistles that were directed towards her. She gets that a lot, being such a beautiful woman, with long, black hair that falls just below her shoulder blades, soft features molded into a heart shaped face, and a body that any woman would kill to have. But what got to everyone, was her eyes. She has deep-blue eyes that would stare into your soul, that I luckily inherited. Everybody says that I am the spitting image of her… except my hair. It's black like hers, but when the light shines on it the right way it turns a deep purple. Some say it's weird, but I like it.

"Sure, mom. Do you want to leave the stuff here?" I asked her.

"Well unless you know where the dorm is, than we don't really have a choice." she said.

"Alright. Just stay here I'll be right back," I told her running off to the office.

3 hours later…

"Finally! Were done!" My mom said in exasperation, falling onto my bed. After I went to the office to get my dorm number, I ran back to the car to get all of my things and took them up to the room (which I was able to get without a roommate). Ever since, we've been organizing it so that it's functional for me and my work style.

"I know, I thought it would take forever." I replied, plopping down right next to her. We sat there in a comfortable silence, just relaxing in each others company.

"I can't believe you're going to college." She uttered hoarsely. I looked at her and realized she was crying.

"I remember you on your first day of kindergarten. You were so scared," she chuckled," you held on to my leg as if the ground was lava and you couldn't go anywhere."

"That day was so hard for me. I cried the whole day wondering if you were ok. When I arrived after school, you ran straight to me and almost tackled me. You looked so happy to see me. You went on for the rest of the night about how great it was and how you wanted to go back so badly, and how it was the best day ever. Yet all I could think about was how fast you were growing up." I felt moisture on my cheeks and became aware of the fact that I was crying. She finally sat up and looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"I just want you to know how proud I am of you. 18 years ago I never even thought that I would have a child that would be as amazing as you, but now that I do I could never be more happy. I love you with all of my heart and remember 'a daughter may outgrow your lap –"

"—but she will never outgrow your heart." I finished.

"That's my girl." She hugged me with all of her might, tears streaming down both of our faces. I hugged her back with just as much force showing her how much I was going to miss her.

We separated after a hugging for what felt like a lifetime. She rested her hands on my shoulders while I laid my hands on hers. After calming my tears I finally spoke.

"You know, the last time I heard that was when I was starting my first day of High School." I stated.

"Well, it is our quote. Nobody else can use it, or else I'll hurt them." She said, trying to be serious, but failing miserably. I started to laugh.

"You always know how to brighten the mood." I said after calming down to chuckles.

"Who said this was a sad moment? You're starting college! This is the happiest moment of my life! It should be a happy moment for you too."

"But it doesn't feel like it. I mean, I've always been so close to you. This is going to be my longest time away from you." I could feel the tears start to burn at my eyes as we stood up.

"I won't be far. Physically, I will be. But that's only about 1,000 miles." I chuckled.

"Mom. You're across the country in Jump City. That's far." I stated, like a dumbass.

"Don't you listen to Vanessa Carlton? If you were in trouble, you know I would run a thousand miles just to see you. But, being serious here. Emotionally I'll always be right here," she pointed to my heart, "and right here," she pointed to my head. "I'll always be with you and don't you ever forget that, my beautiful raven." I couldn't help but feel tears escape my eyes and run down my face. I pulled her into another hug. That was what she called me whenever I was sad or depressed. She told me it was what her mother called her when she was younger.

"I love you, mom. I'm going to miss you so much." I mumbled into her shoulder. We stood there for about another 5 minutes before we finally let go of each other.

"Alright. I have to go. My flight leaves in two hours and I don't want to get caught in traffic." She said looking into her phone.

"Wait- what about the label? And the Fashion line? I was always there to help, but since I'm leaving how are you going to handle it?" My father was the founder of the record label _Branded _and the world renowned _Fear Itself _ fashion line. When he died my mother and I inherited it. She taught me everything I needed to know when I was to gain control of the company.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. I'll take care of it."

"Ok."

"Wow. We were talking to each other for an hour and a half." I said a little out of breath, but a giant smile on my face.

"I think that's our record." We laughed, sorrow-filled laughs.

"Bye, my beautiful Raven. I love you." She said walking towards the door.

"I love you, too, mom." I said right when she walked out of the room.

I finally realized for the first time in my life, that I was truly alone. I became aware of the silence that invaded my room. I've never been a dependent person, so me being conscious of the fact of being alone scared me. To take my mind of the idea, I decided to take my guitar down to the fountain and play a little bit.

I picked up my classical guitar, put it into the case, and head downstairs. As I was walking, I finally appreciated how much time I had spent with my mom in the last couple of hours. That was the perfect goodbye for this new beginning.


	2. Voicemail

**Disclaimer: I don't own the teen titans or anything that sounds familiar to you.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Raquel POV**

I walked out of the building, guitar case in hand, and sat under the large Willow tree. I sat there for a moment, trying to relish in the tranquility and peacefulness surrounding me. I awoke from my 5-minute state of placidity and started to open my guitar case. I looked up to see everyone around me, when I saw the same guy who was playing guitar earlier walking toward me. He looked strangely familiar to me. I don't know why, maybe it was the way he walked with absolute confidence, or how he winked at every girl who took a glance at him. But now that I think about it… he sort of reminds me of…

"Hey Raquel."

"Richard!" I said in astonishment.

Richard "Wayne" Grayson is the adopted son of Bruce Wayne, owner of the world-renowned Wayne Enterprises, and the second most wanted bachelor in Gotham right after his own guardian. I could understand why too, seeing that he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen with spiky black hair, and a perfectly toned body. It doesn't help that he has a wonderful personality and is very smart. I met him at a couple of those fancy parties for celebrities. He always had a different bimbo for each party. My mother, running an exceptionally successful business and being a close friend of Bruce Wayne, was invited to many of these parties and she always dragged me with her. Now, I've only conversed with Richard maybe once or twice despite going to a multitude of these parties, but I don't really know him on any kind of personal level, yet I do find him somewhat attractive_. (Yeah right!)_

"What are you doing here!?!" I asked in shock.

"I go to school here, and I'm guessing that you got accepted here also." He explained shooting on of his charming smiles at me, that would make any girls heart melt.

"Well, I actually got here on an academic scholarship." I stated, turning my head so he couldn't see a blush rising on my cheeks.

"Ah, we have an intellectual on our hands. That's no reason to be embarrassed." So I guess he did see the blush.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout it." He said, sitting next to me.

"So, you like to play guitar?" He inquired.

"Is it obvious?" I pried, resting my guitar in my lap. He gave a deep chuckle.

"A little. How long have you been playing?"

"For about 10 years. You?" I questioned, tuning my guitar.

"I've been playing for 12 years."

"Why did you want to start playing guitar?" I asked, looking at him. His mood suddenly darkened, giving off a melancholic aura. He seemed to be staring through the grass. He gave a deep sigh as he uttered,

"I don't want to talk about it, it's not really a great memory. Maybe for another time." Still with a dismal expression, he looked at me with a smile that didn't reach into his eyes, displaying his true feeling of sorrow.

"Ok." I replied, looking into his eyes to see if there really was going to be another time.

"Well then, I shall be on my way. Maybe I'll see you around campus and we can grab a cup of coffee or something." He stood up with his guitar in his hands. His mood seemed to brighten tremendously. He reminded me of a PMSing woman, with his dramatic mood swings and what not.

"Sure. I'll see you then." I responded, looking up at him.

"See you." He nodded his head and gave me a bright grin while walking off.

I wanted to know more about him. Why did he have that weird mood swing? Was it really that hard for him, at that point of time in his life, to not be able to discuss it with people? Apparently, it was.

For now, I'm just going to store it in the back of my mind for another time and play my guitar. It is what I came out here for.

I sat there for about an hour to an hour and a half, picking away and enjoying the music that came with my wonderful playing (not to sound cocky). This was my form of meditation, the way I would finish a hard, stressful day with my tranquil, peaceful guitar.

I finished playing a song that I learned recently, and decided that I should probably start to head back up to my dorm. I put my guitar back into the case and stood up. I looked around and noticed that a lot of people left to their dorms, with only a few scattered around the area, and the sun was setting. The school had a beautiful view of the sunset. I stood there for a moment longer relishing in the last of the warmth. I stirred from my quick reverie and packed up my things and headed for my dorm.

On my way to my dorm my phone vibrated, which indicated I had a voicemail. While walking up the stairs I took my phone out of my pocket and called my voicemail. I finally got to the top of the stairs when I finished putting in my pass code. I stopped to gather myself when I finally heard the voicemail, and my heart stopped beating.

"_I have your mother and she will die."_

XxXxX

**Thank you to those who have reviewed and have been waiting for this chapter to come out. I am sorry to have tortured everyone with this long wait. I will try to get them out faster. I would also like to thank my beta deadadalia777. YOU ARE AWESOME! Remember to review, and like I said before, criticism is welcome!**

**Yours truly,**

_**MyDemonicSide**_


	3. RICHARD!

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the Teen titans.**

XxXxX

**Richard POV**

I walked down the hall from my room and winked at a blonde, who just happened to take a glance at my person, and turned her head to hide a creeping blush.

I have been in a good mood ever since I conversed with Raquel. I don't know why but for some reason, just being around her makes me happy. She's so easy to talk to and she makes you feel comfortable, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed by her presence. My heart stops and my palms start to sweat whenever, she smiles at me. I get jealous at any guy she smiles at that's not me. One time I got jealous at her for smiling at some old geezer that was about 50 years older than her. I don't even know what sparked these feelings! Maybe it's because she's not like any of those dumb idiots (who are so little I could break in half, I don't know what I ever saw in them) that I take to those stupid parties. They don't seem to have anything going on their head, except to remember what not to eat (which is pretty much everything). Now Raquel, she is just so different. The way she walks with a little sway of the hips full of confidence, how she has 5 different smiles for any situation, it all just contributes to her never fading beau-… speak of the Devil…

I saw her standing at the top of the staircase and knew immediately that something was wrong. I called her name out, and waited for an answer. Once I realized that I wasn't going to get an answer, I started jogging towards her. All of the sudden she dropped her guitar case and fell to her knees.

"RAQUEL!" I yelled, running to her. Once I got there, I knelt in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"Raquel! Raquel! Please Raquel, LOOK AT ME!" I got a little more than frustrated by the end of the sentence. I realized that people started to get out of their dorms or stop what they were doing to look upon the scene. I took notice of the immense amount of people who were stopping what they were doing or getting out of their dorms. Since there were many people staring, I grabbed the room key that was hanging out of Raquel's pocket, picked her up bridal style with the room key in hand, and took her to her dorm. I stopped in front of the room that had the room number that was on the key. I opened the door and sat Raquel on her bed.

A girl with strange pink hair and cat eyes, came up to the door. " What happened?" she asked with pure curiosity in her strange eyes. " I don't know. She's not responding t-to anything I s-say and she's not moving. I-I can't figure out w-why she's s-suddenly like t-this!" My voice started to show signs of weakness as I started to stutter. Panic, distress, fear, and confusion washed over me like a tsunami. I felt like I was going to cry.

"I'll call the ambulance." She then ran out of the room.

I sat in front of Raquel for what felt like forever, but was really only about 10 minutes. I took that small amount of time to examine her features.

She has a soft, diamond shaped face that's complimented by her soft plump lips, cute nose, and perfectly shaped eyebrows. But her eyes were what caught my attention the most. They were this deep blue that could rival the color of the deepest part of the sea and the most beautiful part about her.

Right now, her face is contorted into an expression of fear with her mouth slightly open and her eyes were wide with fear. I felt useless to her. Knowing that I couldn't do anything to help her. I shook my head and took my eyes away from her flawless face. I looked down in frustration, took a deep breath, and sighed.

Then, a thought came to me. A classic fairytale that I remembered from when I was a little boy. Now, I know there are no such things as fairytales; but you know what, there will never be a time like the present to be a sleeping beauty's prince charming.

I picked my head up to look at Raquel's still face. Her mouth was slightly open but non-moving. I decided that now was better than never and started to lean forward. When I got about an inch from her face, I hesitated but she still hadn't moved. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to pop out of my chest. I moved in closer and closer, closing my eyes as I went. I finally felt my lips touch hers when all of the sudden…

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

**Raven POV**

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

My heart was hammering in my chest with my head looking down, trying to regain control of my breathing pattern from the sudden reaction. I woke up to somebody trying to kiss me, so what else would I do than scream and push them off! I haven't seen the face of whoever tried to kiss me yet, but I could feel their eyes burning into my skull and I could hear them taking deep breaths.

My heartbeat started to slow down and my breathing started to return to normal. I finally decided to take a look at whoever-tried-to-kiss-me's face. I picked up my head, and I gasped at the sight that lay before me.

Sitting in front of me, leaning back on his arms, was none other than Richard. He was breathing hard with this look of fear and amazement upon his face. The former emotion was not surprising, yet the latter emotion was what got me confused.

"Your awake!" He was looking at me as if I grew another head.

"Of course I'm awake. What the hell made you think I wouldn't be?" My temper started to rise at every word.

"Well you were out of it for about 20 minutes and I didn't think you would wake up anytime soon."

"Hold on, I was out for 20 minutes?" I asked, with my temper being replaced by surprise.

"How long did you think you were out for? An hour? If I guessed you were probably at the top of the staircase for about 5 minutes, then it took me about another 5 minutes to pick you up, take you to you dorm and place you on your bed. Then I sat in front of you for about 10 minutes, waiting for the ambulance to get here, until I pulled that… stunt on you." he said. I was amazed, and thankful, that he would spend all that time on me. It just made him seem more attractive than he already was… not that I thought him that attractive.

"How did you get like that anyway?" I didn't even think about how it happened until now. The bad voicemail, and my mom… my poor mom. How could this ever happen to her?

"Do you want to talk about it?" I jumped at the sound of his voice right next to my ear. Apparently he moved while I was thinking, without me knowing, and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"No, I don't. Now will you please get out of my room." Just the thought of that message angered me, so I wanted to be alone right now, and Richard wouldn't help the situation.

I stood up, grabbed Richard's arm and dragged him towards the door.

"Can't I just help you for once?" he said when we got to the door.

"You have helped me enough today and I thank you for that, but I don't need your help right now. If I do need help, I'll call you."

With that said I slammed the door on his face.

XxXxXxXx

**Thank goodness I got this posted! I want to say thank you to everybody who put this story on their favorites and/or alert list. I also want to say thanks to those who waited for this story to come out. All I can say is 'School's a bitch that needs to be slapped!'**

**Yours truly, **

**MyDemonicSide**


	4. Decisions

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen titans, just the story plot.**

**XxXxXxX**

**Raven's POV**

I leaned against the door and sighed. I started thinking about everything that had happened to me today. Arriving at the college, putting my stuff in the dorm, saying goodbye to my mom, talking to Richard under the tree, the dreadful voicemail, and Richard trying to kiss me. Talk about an eventful day.

I walked over to my bed and sat down with my head in my hands. I can't imagine what my mom could be going through right now. They could be torturing her and I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. Now is the time I wish I had superpow—

**RING! RING!**

I shot my head up. I looked toward my desk where my phone was placed.

**RING! RING!**

What if it's my mother's kidnapper? Should I answer it? What if they told me where my mother was? With that last thought I jumped from my bed and ran to my desk.

**RING! RIN—**

"Hello?"

"_Well if it isn't Raquel Roth."_

"Where the hell is my mom?"

"_Straight to the point then. Your mother is unharmed. If you consider sitting tied to a chair unharmed."_

"Why should I believe you?"

"_Well, why don't you say hello." _I inhaled deeply.

"_RAQUEL!"_

"MOM!"

"_Raquel, listen to me. Whatever you do don't come! They're not after me, they're after y-"_

"MOM! What happened! MOM!"

"_Your mother isn't in her right mind right now. Why don't you come down and visit her. Go downtown to the corner of 54__th__ and Jefferson. You'll see something that should be familiar to you. Once you get to it, there will be directions on what to do next. Now if you don't come, then me and the boys down here __**will **__have some fun with her. If you do, then you could possibly save her from an untimely death. We will give you 24 hours, starting after I hang up. After that, you'll never get another chance to save her. And come alone." _

"NO, WAIT!"

_Bbbbeeeeeeeeeepppp_

"SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted with great frustration. I don't know whether or not I should go. Should I heed my mother's warning and not go, or follow the man's directions and save her from dying?

Without another thought, I picked up my jacket and walked over to my suitcase and pulled out a black case. Inside is my dad's pistol. My dad left it in my possession when he died and everywhere I go, I take it with me. This was no different.

XxXxX

**Richard's POV**

I've been sitting outside of Raquel's room ever since she shut the door on me. I don't think I've ever seen her get mad like that, not that that's saying much.

Suddenly, Raquel burst out of her room and started walking down the hall at a fast pace.

"Raquel, wait!" I yelled, getting up and running after.

"What do you want?" she said voice filled with malice and annoyance seeping from her eyes.

"Can't we just talk?" I said catching up with her. I placed my hand on her shoulder to turn her to face me.

"Look, now is not the best time for me to talk, so I'll call you later… or something," she said in a menacing tone. Her eyes told the whole story. They were filled with worry, confusion, but most of all, fear. She turned away and kept walking. I gave up and didn't even try to run after her.

"Don't forget to call." I yelled after her. I don't know whether she heard me or not since she didn't even turn her head. Luckily, since I was confused at her actions, I decided to place a tracking device on her jacket without her knowing. There's a reason why I'm the protégé of a legend.

XxXxX

**Dear readers, **

**I'm sorry that it takes me so long to write a single chapter. I can't make excuses for it and I promise that the next chapter will come out sooner and be longer. Thank you all for being patient with this story and myself.**

**Yours truly,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	5. Man Behind the Mask

**Yay! I finally updated and let me tell you. You'll be in for a treat in this chapter. As some have suggested, I have tried to put more explanation and… well, uh… more into this chapter so I hope you like!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the Teen Titans**

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

I pulled my leather jacket tighter around me, almost as if to make me feel safer, as I walked the streets of downtown Gotham. I must've been in the worst part of Gotham. The buildings were abandoned with broken windows and boards nailed over the doors, garbage littered the streets, and anybody on the streets were either extremely skinny taking drugs or meaty men pocketing guns and/or knives. One of the guys seemed to be staring at me as if I were a piece of meat. He was about 6"6, 250 pounds of muscle, and a war torn face with a scar going straight through his eye and down his cheek. I put my hand on the grip of my gun that was tucked into the back of my jeans and made sure to stay as far away from him as possible.

As I was walking up to the intersection, I noticed some sort of blue cloth waving in the wind a couple of meters away from me. When I approached it, a hood was hanging on to a car meter. I gathered that it was some sort of cloak. It was similar to one that my mother had… Oh No…

I took my hand off of the grip of my gun and turned the cloak over in my hands to look for something that's unique to my mother's cloak. I turned the cloak to its front when I saw it. The one thing that was unique to my mom's cloak was there… a special brooch that her mother gave to her, a ruby with an image of a raven imprinted inside surrounded by gold. It was my mother's cloak all right, which means that he was telling the truth. That son of a bitch! I thought he was bluffing but apparently he wasn't.

I was holding the brooch when I suddenly felt something attached to the back. I turned it around to see a folded piece of paper pinned to the cloak. I unfolded it to find two words…

'_Turn Around'_

Confused, I did as told…

**BAM!**

There was a sharp pain in the side of my head as someone hit me with some sort of blunt object. I fell to the ground in a wave of pain and shock.

Dots spotted my vision… my world turned dark… and I lost consciousness altogether.

XxXxX

**Nightwing POV**

I ran from rooftop to rooftop at record speed, following the signal of the tracker. It's been 2 hours since the tracker was placed and it took all that time to find the signal. I became aware that every building I passed kept getting worse and worse to the point that they were abandoned.

I landed on the building above the signal and walked over to the ledge. I peeked over and saw nothing except for a pile of clothes. I looked around for any spectators and noticed that there were none (_weird)_. I jumped off the ledge and landed gracefully on the ground. My tracker was going off like crazy, pointing ahead a couple feet. But a few feet ahead of me just sat a pile of new and old clothes. Since Raquel was obviously not there I decided to look through the pile, just in case. So, I walked over to the pile of clothes and started digging for anything suspicious.

My digging started getting more desperate and faster by the second. Almost to the point where I was going to give up, I suddenly found something that scared the shit out of me.

Resting in my hand with blood all over them… was Raquel's jacket and a gun.

XxXxX

**Raquel POV**

"_Are you sure about this, Doc? Multiple things could go so wrong…"_

The first thing I noticed, when I woke up, was the voices. There were only 2 but I didn't show any signs of consciousness to alarm them. The second was the pounding headache and the dried blood covering the left side of my face. The third was that I was lying on a cold, slanted slab tied down by leather wraps across my shins, my lower stomach, my chest, and my shoulders.

"_Of course, I'm sure you dipshit! And don't you think that I am aware of all the complications that comes with this experiment?"_

"_Sir, the subject could die."_

"_That I am absolutely aware of. She would deserve it, the little bitch, after what her father did to me."_

What my father did? What the hell did my father do? Why the hell would my father work with these kinds of people? The other guy was apparently wondering the same thing.

"_What did—"_

"_NO! Don't even ask the question. Just drop it. *sigh* Now, why don't you wake the slut up. It's about time we start the experiment."_

"_Yes, sir"_

_**SLAP!**_

"Fuck! What the hell was that for!" I yelled in anger. No one slaps me and gets away with it.

"Why, hello. Did you have a nice nap?" said one of the men. I'm guessing that he was the doctor. He was wearing a lab coat that complimented his broad shoulders and muscular physique with medical gloves _(what is he going to do with those!)_. The weird thing about him was that he was wearing a metal mask that covered his whole face. It looked to be welded together in the middle with a slot for his mouth, 2 slots for his eyes, and no nose holes. His whole image frightened the hell out of me. The other guy was wearing the exact same thing except he was wearing these weird, black, scuba-looking goggles.

"I am Doctor Dimond and I am going to be experimenting on you today." He said, with, what I assumed to be, a maniacal smile. The other guy walked out of the room.

"What do you mean by experimenting?" I wondered.

"Well, since you are either going to die or completely lose your mind I might as well tell you."

He started walking around the room in a slow steady pace as he began his story, "You see, one day I was up in the mountains when I found a small meteor a little ways off the trail. I, being the young idiot I was—"

"—still am" I interrupted with a small smirk. I received a glare and a, rather hard, slap to the back of the head.

"OW! What the fu—"

"AS I was saying," he said with an exaggeration on 'as' to cut me off, " I tried to touch it but was thrown back about 30 feet. I realized that this was no ordinary meteor. So, I called some of the boys down from my lab and had them run a test on the meteor to figure out if it had any _special _elements. We ran multiple tests on it yet nothing came up. We couldn't find anything on earth that even came close to the properties that this meteor contained and we didn't have anything to compare it to. "

"Almost close to just throwing in the towel, I decided to do a little research. I looked up anything and everything that was not from this planet or has crash landed on our planet." He settled his head onto his fist and rested his elbow on his opposite arm, still walking around the room _(which I wish he would stop doing, my neck is starting to cramp.)_

"For days, I just sat at my desk staring at my computer screen. But one day I found something that grabbed my attention. It was a report of a star called Azarath that seemed to exude amazing power, 20 times the amount any other planet releases, even Jupiter! It blew up and was completely forgotten. I compared the statistics from the report to mine and was absolutely elated when I found that they were undeniably identical. Now, I have the greatest source of power in the universe! But, what am I to do with all that power?" He kept waving his arms around every time he got even a tad bit excited.

"Now I got to thinking and wondered 'if a star can contain all that power than why can't a person?'" He finally stopped in front of me with his fingertips touching and a mischievous glint in his eyes. That was when it hit me…

"Oh no…"

"Oh yes. That is what you are here for, my dear. I am going to place all of that power into… you." He said, whispering at the end.

"NO! I won't let you!" I started to struggle against the straps that held me down.

"Now, now my dear. No need to get all excited, even though I am excited as well."

"How could you do this? And why me of all people?" I yelled at him, unsuccessful at trying to escape my bonds.

"Thank your father. He was the one who ruined my life and made me place this stupid mask over my face." He blurted out, pointing at his mask completely enraged.

"If it weren't for him, my wife would still be alive and I would have twins. But now, the only thing I have left to remind me of her is my son." He yelled.

Without warning, he calmed down. He put on a façade as if he never lost his composure and once again got a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Jeez, you remind me of a pregnant woman with all of the mood swings you have." I stated, staring at him as if he just got out of a mental hospital and went crazy.

"If I remind you of someone then I'm sure this next person will surely blow your top off. Now, before you I had to experiment on someone else to make sure my calculations were correct." He turned to face one side of the room as something came out of the shadows. I finally took this time to examine the room I was in.

The slab that I was on was in the middle of the room surrounded by carts that carried multiple frightening medical tools such as scalpels, needles, etc. There were several computers/machines next to the carts. One was a heart rate monitor that was connected to a couple of probes attached to my chest right above my t-shirt. All the walls were made of metal and only one door, which lead out of the room that was also made of metal. Suspended above me, was a giant machine, with a bunch of buttons and switches on the side, that held a giant rock, that I'm guessing is the meteor, with a hole in the bottom. A tube was attached to the hole that leads to one of the needles on the cart next to me. The needle held a dark purple and silver liquid that gave off a dark, purple glow.

I looked at Doctor Dimond. He seemed so enraptured that I didn't even take notice of the person on the slab.

"Well, don't you want to say hi to mommy?" he said.

Oh no… please, let it not be her…

But it was.

I slowly turned my head to the side to see my mom, bound by leather straps, on the slab next to me. Shock couldn't even hold a candle up to what I'm feeling right now. I don't even recognize her. She's unconscious but her skin is deathly pale with dull, lifeless hair. I couldn't see her face, what with her chin at her chest but her appearance just exuded death. Unfortunately, that was exactly the case.

"You see, I needed to try it on someone else first so I decided 'well she's here why not give it a shot.' So here she is. Unfortunately the power was too overwhelming for her so it depleted her life source, leaving her with…oh… about 5 minutes left to live."

My body was filled with hatred and disgust at the man who was standing in front of me. He was glowing with amusement. How could any man have this much hate within them?

"How could you do this?" I growled through gritted teeth, tears cascading down my face.

"It all comes naturally, my dear. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go get prepared." He started walking away straight-backed until he came to an abrupt stop and turned toward me.

"By the way, your mother should be waking up soon, so if you want to talk to her…"

He left off, turned back around and headed out the door.

I turned to look at my mom. She wasn't showing any signs of consciousness, which frightened me. What if she never wakes up? She might as well be dead right now—No! I can't think like that. She is alive, just asleep. Yeah… that works.

"Ugh…" I saw my mom starting to move her head slightly.

"Mom! It's me mom! It's Raquel!" Desperation was filling my voice.

"Raquel? … Wh-why… are you… here?" her voice cracked multiple times as she picked her head up to look at me.

I gasped as I caught sight of her face, too stunned to answer her question. Her face was as deathly pale as the rest of her body but dried blood covered her lips and chin, than ran down to the base of her throat. But her usually beautiful eyes were blood-shot and lifeless. I couldn't even look into her eyes, I was so shocked.

"Oh my god mom… wh- what did they d-do to you?" I said, sobbing.

"I don't know… th-they just put th-this purple stuff into me. Raquel… it was so painful-*cough, cough*" She started coughing up blood all over the floor that made me just cry even harder.

"Look, Raquel… I'm not going to live much longer—"

"-YES YOU ARE MOM! Don't talk like that—"

"— Listen to me Raquel. I love you w-with all of my heart. But please… do not m-mourn over me fo-for the rest of your life th-thinking that you could have done some-something to prevent th-this. This is inevitable. Not even Batman co-could have stopped this." She started to struggle more and more with every word she spoke.

"Mom, fight against it. I will have nothing to mourn over if your still alive."

"I c-can't R-Raquel… I-I can f-feel my l-life fading f-from me." And with the last breath she had, her eyes softened to their beautiful nature and she said,

"Ti amo… il mio Raven bello." Then, her eyes closed and she let out her last breath.

"NO! WAKE UP, MOM! PLEASE DON'T DIE, MOM, PLEASE!" I yelled. Tears were cascading down my face, as my mom lay dead on the slab.

"Ah… so the bitch finally died, how tragic." Doctor Dimond walked through the door wearing some sort of goggles over his masked eyes and heavy, black gloves.

"VOI BASTARDO AMMALATO! LI SPERO PUTREFAZIONE NELL'INFERNO CONS QUELLA STREGA CHE CHIAMIATE LA VOSTRA MOGLIE! **Je VOUS** **DÉTESTE! FILS D'une CHIENNE! **_¡CPORQUÉ USTED NO VA COGIDA USTED MISMO, DIMOND!"_ I screamed, cursing in Italian, French and Spanish.

"Be happy that I don't know what your saying. Your mother deserved what she got and you're about to get yours." He turned towards the cart with the needle and picked up alcohol and a piece of cotton.

"How 'bout this: you let me go, I shove that **fucking** needle in your head, and I go on my way." I hissed at him.

"How about you shut up." His eyes narrowed at me as he poured some alcohol on the cotton. He reached above me to press a big, red button on the machine. It whirred to life as surges of energy pulsed through the tube into the needle.

"What's in the needle?" I asked, curiosity too overwhelming to ignore.

"That is the power suppressed into a liquid with two additives to reduce the intensity of the energy." He quoted, wiping alcohol on the inside of my elbow.

"What are the additives?"

"That, my dear, is a secret." He (somewhat) smirked.

"You're too calm, you almost seem eager to start." He said, putting the cotton and alcohol back onto the cart as he picked up the needle.

"I really don't care what happens to me now." I said, resignation lacing every word.

"Then let's get started now. Shall we?" He flicked liquid out of the tip of the needle and rested the tip against my skin.

"Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit." He then inserted the needle into my skin, and squeezed the liquid into my system.

As he emptied the contents of the needle, I felt the liquid crawling through my veins at an agonizingly slow pace. The feeling emotional and physical weight was bearing down on me as the cold fluid started to climb its way up my throat and into my head. Pain started to make itself known as I felt it reach every inch of my body. It increasingly grew, becoming unbearable. I screamed out when the seemingly alive liquid completely encompassed my heart and started to slow my pulse.

I felt as if my body was in a pit of fire and my head was being split in two. The pain began to engulf me and my thoughts as I heard and felt the tearing of flesh. I looked at my hands to see the metal claws emerging from my fingers. Another wave of pain hit me and I screamed out as my heartbeat came to a complete stop.

But I wasn't dead.

My vision did turn black, but I could still hear Doctor Dimond say something about 'it' working. I still felt the leather straps that bound me to the slab I was laying on and the clothes I was wearing. I could still smell the alcohol that was used to wipe on my arm. And, unfortunately, I could still feel the searing pain shooting through my body. But it was all forgotten at the next series of events.

Out of nowhere, images surged across my vision. Images of what? I don't know. I do know that I saw multiple flashes of some sort of city that floated on a rock and some huge red guy. But most of the images were of this girl with purple hair and eyes wearing some sort of leotard and cloak ensemble. Apparently, she destroyed the red guy but not without blowing up the place. The thing that I found most interesting was that, in all of the images I saw, she gave off a dark black energy.

Before I could look more closely at the pictures, a sudden burst of pain woke me from my reverie and my vision faded to black once more. A sudden rush of pain swarmed into my head and I cried out in agony.

The pain was too much to bear as my mind gave out and I faded into unconsciousness.

XxXxX

**Wow! The longest chapter for me, and my favorite by far. I wanted to write more but I was stuck as to how to write the next part, so I'll just leave that for the next chapter. Anyways, I want to thank all those who have stuck with me throughout the progress of my story and reviewed. **

**Once again, even if it's to criticize on what I'm doing wrong I accept all kind of reviews (except if they are to flame the pairing, if you hate the couple then don't read the story!)**

**Other than that, I will try to update soon. **

'**Til then,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	6. New Power

**AN: Finally updated and so happy! I've been busy with school and basketball which has cut down my writing time. One quick notice… this chapter is going to have some vulgar language in the beginning. I did that to add to the environment of the situation. With that said I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Titans… only in my dreams.**

**XxXxX**

**Nightwing POV**

A pain-filled scream pierced through the night sky as I stared at the jacket in my hands. My head shot to the right as the scream echoed from an alleyway across the street. Dropping the jacket, I darted across the street toward the alley. Stopping in the middle of the alley I looked around trying to decide my next course of action. My back was to the street and two doors, one door to my left and another to my right, and multiple stacks of crates occupied the left side of the alley.

A louder, closer scream rang out and it seemed to be coming from the crates. I walked over to the crates and, without disturbing anything, peered between openings of 2 crates. There was a rectangular window, just big enough to where I can slide in, that was slightly open with a guard waving his AK-47 around in anger (giving the impression of talking to himself.) _This has got be the place,_ I thought, _but how to get in? _Then, I started deviating a plan.

**Normal POV**

"Dat bitch is so fuckin' loud! Why don't Doc just shut 'er up?All I've 'eard is dat fuckin' bitch screamin' ova and ova. And, I been walking round this 'ell-hole for 4 'ours and its borin' as 'ell! No shit ever goes on at these kinds of things so why do we gotta stay 'ere, eh?" The guard said with a British accent.

"We gotta stay here cause we don't want anybody gettin' a sneaky-peak, ya understand me? How 'bout dis, Tony… after were done here, I'll take you to dis place I know 'round here dat got pretty heavy drinks along with some pretty girlies dat are willin' to do anythin' fo ya, if ya know what I mean?" said another guard, also branding an AK-47 and standing right outside the door that lead to the lab that encased the pain-induced Raquel and mesmerized Doctor.

"Promise, Jay?"

"Promise, man. And I'm pretty sure it'll be soon. It don't take an idiot to figure out dat da Doc probably got his gizmo workin—"

_**CRASH!**_

The two guards turned towards the end of the hallway where a window, now with a hole, occupied a space on the wall. Tony looked at Jay with a determined face, and with a small nod, turned back towards the window and raised his gun to eye level while walking slowly toward it.

As Tony walked up to the wall, he lowered his weapon slightly to peer through the window trying to find something that wasn't supposed to be there. Not finding anything even remotely suspicious, other than stacks upon stacks of crates.

Taking one last look out, he turned back around, completely lowered his gun, and walked toward Jay.

"Prob'ly just some punks." Tony said.

"Ya, but what hit da window?"

**Beep**

"D'you 'ere dat?" The 2 looked at each other, confused.

**Beep**

"Da hell's dat?" They started looking around trying to find the source of the beeping.

**Beep**

Finally realizing where it was coming from, the 2 looked down.

Sitting on the ground between them was some sort of sphere. It was black with a silver line going around the middle and a white dot placed on opposite ends of the golf-ball sized sphere. Tony bent down to pick it up.

**Beep**

"So this is da thing dat's makin all da noise?" said Tony, turning the small device around in his hands.

**Beep**

"Why do ya think it's beepin?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's countin' down to sumtin'?"

**Beep**

"But wats it countin down to?"

**Bbbeeeeeeeeeeppp…**

"Uh-oh…"

_**FLASH**_

"AHHH—MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE A BLOODY THING!" Tony dropped the wretched ball and his gun, bringing his hands to his eyes, as the ball flashed a bright light, blinding the 2 guards.

"I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING EITH—AHHH!" Jay was suddenly cut off as the sound of someone collapsing to the ground was heard.

"Jay…JAY! WHERE IN BLOODY HELL ARE YOU!" Tony yelled, still blinded as he stumbled around the room with one hand over his eyes and the other extended in front of him to keep from crashing into a wall.

"Jay, where are ya—AH!" Tony fell to the ground unconscious.

**Nightwing POV**

The last guard fell to the ground as I struck him in the base of his neck rendering him unconscious. Now I had 2 people knocked unconscious in the middle of the hallway. It would be suspicious if someone waked in finding 2 seemingly dead people, so thinking quickly, I pushed them out of the little window and pulled a crate that was next to it in front of the window.

Deeming my work finished, I walked over to a large steel door at the end of the hallway and peeked through the round window in the door. There, bound to a steel slab, was Raquel but she wasn't moving. Her skin was a little more pale than normal, her bones popped out of her skin, her veins were stark against her skin, and she had large purple streaks in her hair, which was weird. But coming out of her fingers were these long… metal… claws. But then I saw the blood dripping down her… claws and I felt relieved since she was still alive and angry that she was tortured so brutally. I finally recognized the man that was standing in front of Rachel with a mask on his face. He was the man that did this to her and he would surely pay.

Suddenly he turned and started walking toward the door. I moved left of the doorway as the door swung open, right in front of me so I was between the door and the wall. As quietly as I could, I peeked through the window to see the guy with the mask face the wall and touch the wall as if he was typing something. The wall then opened up as he walked through, without even noticing the lack of guards, and the door closed.

Letting out a breath that I didn't know was holding, I got out of my little hiding spot and walked into the room. I walked up to Raquel and – just as a precaution – I checked her pulse. It was barely there. Rushing to get her medical help I unclasped the leather straps that bound her to the table as she fell into her arms. Adjusting her so that I carried her bridal style I turned and ran into something soft. I looked up and gasped as I looked into the face of Arella. Her once beautiful features were now cold and lifeless as dried blood was on her chin and throat. I couldn't leave her here in the hands of the madman, even though she was lost. The more that I think about it the more I realized that I needed help.

I carefully placed Raquel on the floor and reached into my silver utility belt to pull out a black and blue communicator. I flipped it open and a face immediately came on.

"Batman here. Go ahead."

"I have 2 victims, one dead and the other in critical state, that were subject to an experiment that went wrong. I'm in a building just south of 54th and Jefferson there's a window blocked by crates with 2 unconscious men next to them. Come quickly."

"I'll be there in 2 minutes." He ended quickly cutting the connection.

I put the communicator back in my belt and stood up. I walked up to Arella and started untying her from the slab. Like Raquel, she just fell into my arms the difference being that Arella was colder and heavier. I laid Arella next to Raquel and stood up. They were both such wonderful people, it was unfortunate that something this horrible happened to people such as themselves…

I suddenly felt a sharp, cool metal press against my throat. I tried to get out of the firm grip, but struggled. Suddenly a gruff voice spoke,

"Aren't they beautiful? They're what every male wants in a woman. Beautiful, smart, caring, great assets-" I struggled harder, "-and powerful. What Raquel doesn't know is that she'll be more powerful than anyone on this planet."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, still struggling in his grasp.

" It means exactly what it means, so you can take what you can from that. But let me tell you this, if you take her away she'll go crazy. That's why I'm keeping her here and you're leaving."

He immediately turned me around with the cool blade still pressed against my throat and started walking me out the door. We walked through the doorway and instantly came face to face with Batman in all his glory.

"Let him go, Dimond."

"What? Do you think you could just walk in here and command me around in MY lab? That's not going to work. You're gonna have to do better than that."

"Let him go, or you'll regret it."

"I don't know how you can even make that assertion since you're the one at a disadvantage."

Then Batman smirked a smirk that screamed mischief.

"You're the one at a disadvantage."

"Last time I checked you were the one at a disadvantage, since I have the boy with my blade to his throat."

"It's 2 against 1."

"The boy doesn't count."

"I wasn't talking about him." That was when Dimond was suddenly covered in a dark energy and was pulled away from me. I turned around and the frightful look in Dimond's eye was priceless. But then I looked behind him and saw a frightening sight.

A woman, that I once knew as Raquel, was floating behind Dimond, covered in the same dark energy that he was contained in, with glowing black eyes, her purple-black hair was floating and her arm was extended in front of her with the same claws that I saw earlier. The only difference was her skin, it was normal and there was no blood. She had no wounds of any kind. It's as if she… healed herself.

She then turned him around so he was facing her. "Raquel, what are you doing?" Dimond said. In a detached, almost possessed voice she replied, "You killed my mother right before my eyes and now you will pay for what you have done." Then she pulled back her arm and quickly extended it sending Dimond past Batman and me and through the wall into the alley. Batman walked quickly over the rubble and outside. I then turned to Raquel and noticed her eyes start to close. She then started swaying in the air and just before she hit the ground I ran and caught her right before she passed out.


	7. Nevermore

**AN; Yay! I FINALLY UPDATED! I'm really excited about this chapter for it is my longest and most interesting. Also be prepared to meet some new people and be surprised by a special guest! **

**Disclaimer: Pssh… I wish.**

XxXxX

**Raquel POV**

"Hello?"

I called out to the darkness hoping someone was here, wherever here is. After I had passed out, everything went dark and I ended up here. Now, for what has felt like forever, I have been roaming around this place calling out somebody hoping for an answer but I haven't been having very much luck.

Suddenly, a dark bird flew above my head. As it passed over me I felt cold, as if something just pass through my soul. The silhouetted bird landed 10 feet from me and turned into a person. They were sort of hunched over and a hood covered their face, so I don't know if they are a boy or a girl, but judging from the height and the petite form I would say it was a girl. But what she was wearing frightened me—it could just be a replica-but it looks exactly like my moms cloak… it even has the same brooch!

"Raquel." A monotone voice called out. I then looked back at their face and saw deep purple eyes staring back at me. The figure then straightened themself and small, delicate hands reached up and pulled the hood from their face. I gasped. It was definitely a girl, for her feminine features were model-like. High cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, oval-shaped face, extremely pale skin the almost seemed gray, and, oddly enough, chin length purple hair.

"Who are you?" I squeaked out once I got over my shock.

"My name is Raven and I am from a place known as Azarath." She said calmly.

"Where the hell is that?" I asked, my anger taking over.

"It is a star far from this planet that has long been destroyed." If you were paying close attention of what she was saying you could barely pick up the hint of sadness that was in her voice.

"But if your planet was destroyed, than why are you here?" I asked, my anger dying down into sympathy.

"I am here because the purple energy that Dimond has injected into you was once, for a long period of time, my power." As she explained she took a couple of steps forward.

"What do you mean by 'once'?" I could tell the question bothered her since she dropped her head and didn't reply to the question immediately. I stayed silent since I didn't want her to feel like I was pushing her for an answer.

After about a minute or so, she replied, "That will be explained at a later time. But for right now the one thing I **MUST** tell you is that you must learn to control your emotions. Your power is controlled by them and if you express an emotion to an extent you will lose control and harm something or someone."

"I don't understand." She then muttered to herself and something suddenly swirled in front of me. I backed up but continued to watch it as a picture suddenly came through. I stared in horror as I watched my body floating in the air with a black energy swirling around me, with claws coming out of my hand. I grinned in amusement, though, when I saw that Dimond was covered in the same black energy and thrown through a wall. My body suddenly started to fall when none other than Nightwing ran up and caught me in his arms. The image started to fade as the energy disappeared. I looked toward her in shock and said, "How can I be doing that when I'm obviously unconscious?"

"Your power felt your anger and has manifested itself so it can control your body. Since it is my power, my essence is still contained within them, so I am trying to control your body, so that you don't blow something up." She explained

"Ok, well that explains a lot. But I still don't know where I am?"

"We're in a place called Nevermore, otherwise known as your subconscious." She finished.

Then the darkness around us started to fade to the point where I could see the forms of everything around me other than Raven. I looked down and saw the outline of a giant rock that we were standing on. In the- what I assume to be the sky—there was random rocks floating about. On the rock we were standing on there were 8 arches around the edge, with us in the center. When I peered into an arch, I could see right through it. At the top of each arch there was an inscription in what appeared to be as Latin. Since I was taught Latin in school I was able to read the inscriptions. The first that I saw translated into 'HAPPY'.

"Um… why does it say 'happy' on that arch? And why in Latin?" I asked her.

"Because 'HAPPY' is an emotion, just like all the other arches. And Latin is the root language for not only the languages that you know but it is also the root language of Azarath." She replied.

"I'm guessing that's how the language came to be. But the emotion thing, what does it being an emotion have to do with anything?"

"Why don't you think about it, oh smart one? Each arch represents 8 main emotions that you possess and we're in your mind where your emotions reside, hence the arches." She explained, annoyance evident in her voice.

"And what do you mean by 'main'?" I was just full of questions for her, but who wouldn't have questions?

"Well, obviously, there aren't just 8 emotions that you express. There are hundreds of different emotions that you have but some are more dominant than others. So you have 8 dominant emotions and all the other emotions are like subdivisions of that one. For example, in happy there is content, joy and excitement. In timid, there's shyness, fear, and sadness. Do you get where I'm going with this?" She asked.

I stood there taking it all in. It was all so confusing yet I understood every bit of what she was saying. "So you're telling me that through these arches is where that specific emotion lives?" I asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." She said.

After hearing this I walked up to the arch that said 'HAPPY' and stopped right in front of it. I lifted my hand in front of me and slowly put it through the arch. It slowly started to disappear the more I put it through. I immediately pulled it out and saw that I was holding a small pink flower. A little frightened, I turned to look at Raven and she only nodded at me as if to say, 'go ahead'. I turned back to face the arch and with a deep breath I stepped through.

XxXxX

I gasped at the sight that was in front of me. Instead of dark skies they were yellow with pink clouds. There were lush trees with pink leaves and grass with pink flowers everywhere, with birds flying around and a cool breeze. The place was so bright my eyes were starting to water.

"Isn't it B-E-A-UTIFUL?" I jumped at the high-pitched voice from behind me and turned around to see… me... except everything that she wore was pink. There were even pink streaks in her hair!

"Wha- how… who.. wh- WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE ME?" I breathed out.

"That's because she is you. She is one of your emotions, more commonly known as Happy, or even Spaz." Raven said as she walked through the archway.

"HIIII!" Happy leaned towards me, violating the thing I like to call my personal space.

"Umm… hi." I said, backing away

"Each emotion gets their own domain designed specifically to their liking. So, as expected, Happy made her's very, for lack of a better word, bright."

I turned around and took in everything I saw. Everything's just so overwhelming! First, raven appears saying that I'm in my head, then I find out that I have powers, and now I'm talking face to face with my emotion in a place with yellow skies and pink clouds! This is just too weird.

"This is going to take too long, if you want to meet all of your emotions than you must follow me." Raven then turned and headed back through the arch.

"WAIT—why are you in such a hurry?" I passed through the archway back onto the floating rock with the arches and found her in the center facing me, with her cloak over her shoulders and the hood over her face, shadowing her face and making her dark eyes stand out against the darkness.

"Because you can't stay unconscious forever. There's a world outside of this one and if you stay in here for too long than people would think you were in a coma. So if you're done asking questions, why don't we get started with this, shall we?" She motioned me towards the center of the rock.

I walked to the center of the rock and stopped. "Mind explaining to me how I'm supposed to do this?"

She sighed, "All you have to do is think of them and call a meeting through your mind. They will here you and come. Now if you just want one emotion than you just have to say their name and they will be here." She said.

So I closed my eyes and envisioned 8 people who look like me all gathered together and thought '_Meeting._' Then I felt a light breeze and opened my eyes.

There, sure enough, were 8 look alikes standing right in front of me, looking like a friggin' rainbow. But you could tell the personalities of each just by looking at them.

Starting at the left there was a gray one who was cringing from the rest of the group, shyness present on her face, then a yellow that was oddly wearing glasses even though I don't. A green one was next and she seemed extremely confident in herself with her head held high and a cocky grin on her face. Happy was next with a bright smile on her face while she waved to me enthusiastically but I just skipped over her. Next was a brown me who looked totally lethargic and then burped out of nowhere, she was probably gross or disgusting. Next to her was a purple-clad me and she stood similar to the one in the green, with her head held high and back straight, but there was an air around her that commanded attention and her eyes held a wisdom that old people gain over their lifetime. I could tell I was going to like her. Then there was a light blue me with an affectionate smile on her face with a small blush staining her cheeks. Lastly, on the very end of the spectrum of colors was red and she was the most frightening of all. She had four glowing red eyes with sharp fangs that looked like they could tear through flesh like butter. I'm going to stay out of her way.

"So, do you think you could name all of them?" Raven said shocking me out of my scrutinizing once-over of my emotions. So beginning at the left, I started, " Shy, Smarty, Cocky, Happy (obviously), Disgusting, Wisdom, Lovey, and Mean." I finished. I got a lot of sighs and groans from the group in front of me (I even got a growl from the red one.) Raven shook her head with a hand to her face in annoyance and looked up at me.

"Why don't I help you? This is-?"

"You do know that we can speak for ourselves?" The one I pointed out as wisdom said, cutting Raven off and taking a step forward, making herself known.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. _I'm_ telling her because I feel she would be more comfortable if I told her instead of parts of her." Raven stated getting more annoyed by the second. Wisdom seemed to accept the answer and took a step back into the line.

"Anyways, the grey one is timid, yellow is knowledge, green is brave, pink is happy, brown is rude, purple is wisdom (you were correct on that one), light blue is affection, and in the red is anger." I went over each one as Raven said their name.

"I would try to stay away from anger cause she's very temperamental." I nodded and took note of it in my mind. If Raven felt the need to mention it, then it should not be taken lightly.

"Now remember what I told you before. You must control your emotions. That's the reason why they're here. If you express one of them too much then things around you will get destroyed. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." I replied.

"Good. But unfortunately, our time is running short and you must go. But if you want more information, you must go to the Buddhist Temple in Jump City. Inside you'll find a woman by the name of Azar and tell her that a little bird sent you. If she is the same person that I knew, than she would be more than happy to take you in." She pulled her hood up and started walking away

"WAIT!" I called out. She stopped in her place but didn't turn around.

"How am I supposed to get outta here?" I asked her. Surprisingly she just gave a light chuckle and said, "Open your eyes... sis." She smirked, then disappeared.

"SIS! WAIT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SIS? YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME HANGIN' LIKE THAT!" I sighed in exasperation as I tried to decipher what she meant. "She just had to confuse me even more. It's not like my life just got completely complicated now with the fact that I have powers and I can talk to my emotions but she just had to hint at the fact that she might even be my sister. No, my life is perfectly simple. *sigh* How about I get outta here. I've been talking to myself for way too long, I need some outside interaction." After I went on my little tirade, I looked up at my emotions that had been standing there the whole time. "Do you guys think you can help me outta here?" They stood there for a moment, and then separated and went through their respective arches. All but one. Wisdom stood in the same spot the whole time. She walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, " You'll figure out a way. I believe I you." She gave me a heartwarming smile and, just like the others, walked through her archway. I smiled and returned to the dilemma at hand. I thought about the first thing Raven told me. "What did she mean by 'open your eyes.' They're already open. Maybe if I just close my eyes and then open them, for starters?" Seeing as that was the obvious course of action, I closed my eyes for a few seconds and slowly opened them.

I was greeted with a bright light as soon as I opened my eyes. I immediately closed them and groaned in pain from the sudden change. I felt all the pain that I had felt before I had fainted only now it was more like a dull soreness, including the friggin' migraine that was still extremely painful. Groaning, I turned my head to the side so my face was halfway into a pillow… wait… what?

Forgetting the soreness, I shot up and let my eyes adjust to the light. I looked around the room I was in and noticed the heart rate monitor next to me like the one that was at Dimond's lab, but instead of Dimond's lab I was in a hospital, complete with adjustable beds, an I.V., and those annoying paper dresses that they make you wear. The room I was in, fortunately, could only fit one patient so I didn't have to worry about any annoying people. There was a large window on my right and from the dark skies I would guess it was probably late at night. The door to my room was wide open so I could see the nurses walking around, but I sort of expected that.

At that moment, a young, brown-haired girl walked in with a stethoscope around her neck, writing on a clipboard with a prescription bottle in her hand. I'm guessing she's my nurse. She looked up and stared at me with wide eyes. "Oh My God, Your awake." She said, but for some reason she seemed frightened. I think a little sarcasm might get her to loosen up.

"No, Really? I thought this was a dream." I said, a little bit of sass in my tone.

"I have to tell the doctor." Then she just ran out. Well, so much for getting her to loosen up.

Then the migraine that I forgot about came back to the forefront of my mind and I fell back onto the bed. The soreness seemed to just come right back. My whole body felt like a giant bruise. Hoping to relive the migraine I had, I raised my arm to my head when something scratched my side, tearing my gown in the process. I looked down. The glint of sharp, metal knives stared back at me. It freaked me out a little seeing these blades sitting randomly on my bed so when I moved my hand to pick them up, the blades moved with it. I was in shock. I lifted my hand up to my face and stared fearfully at each blade sticking out of my fingers. A glass of water that was on my bedside table suddenly exploded spilling water over the edge onto the carpet. I then remembered what raven said and tried to do some breathing exercises. "You're ok Raquel. There's nothing you need to worry about. They're just knives that are sticking out of your fingers. Oh yeah, you're completely fine." I sighed. It wasn't working

Then a God of a man walked through the door. He had what looked like silky, golden blonde hair that was combed back with a perfectly sculpted face, amber eyes, and the most perfect smile on any man. He walked with a confidence that demands attention with perfect posture and the body of an athlete. He was wearing a doctor's outfit with a stethescope around his neck and a clipboard and pen in his hand. Now I'm not the kind of girl who drools over every, even somewhat, hot guy but this man could make any steel-hearted girl drop to their knees for him. So in short, I _REALLY _hope that he's my doctor.

"Good Morning, Ms. Roth. How are you feeling?" Even his voice is beautiful!

"…Fine! Fine, I feel perfectly…fine." I tried to snap out of my staring and rebuild my dignity but I couldn't help but keep gazing at him with adoration.

He gave a deep, throaty chuckle, "I'm sure you do, . My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen and I'm going to be your doctor for today." I just nodded my head, "Now do you mind if I ask you some questions?" "No! No, go right ahead." I gathered myself enough to say a five-worded sentence! It's a Miracle! "Ok then. Well, the first and most obvious question is how did you get those?" He said, pointing at my claws.

I looked down at my hands and the nightmare that I had woken to came back to me. I lifted my hands in front of me so I could see the horror that I have become.

"I… don't remember. The last thing I remember before I woke up was walking down a street that was pretty dark and getting knocked out from behind. The next thing I knew, I was here." I thought that if I told him the truth it might leak out and I don't want everyone to know what happened.

"So you have absolutely no recollection of what happened?" His gaze seemed to penetrate through my lies, but I stayed with my story. "None… except for an excruciating pain." Ok, maybe I lied. "Where did this pain come from?" "I don't know, all I remember is the feeling of something crawling under my skin and what felt like tightening onto my veins and cutting off the blood flow to the rest of my body and then this tearing at my hands." I told him.

"Well, that would explain the claws. It also explains your irregular heartbeat."

"What?" He pointed to the heart-rate monitor and I saw the things going up and down in an extremely weird pattern. Usually when you hear a heartbeat you hear **beep**...** beep**…**beep. **But mine was going **beep beep**… **beep**… **beep beep beep**… **beep beep**… son on and so forth. Just to make sure it was right I, carefully, put 2 fingers to my throat, but I got the same beat. I heard the door closing and looked up to see Dr. Cullen walking from the door and pulling a chair up to the side of my bed.

"Raquel-" he started, his grave voice frightening me- "From the irregular heart pattern… you should've been dead before you came in here. But as we both know, your not the same girl you were before the incident." I couldn't hide from his gaze as I dropped my head in guilt. "Whatever your reasons are for not telling me I'll respect them. But just to let you know-" he then picked up a scalpel that was sitting near us and rolled up is sleeve. He raised it above his arm, "you're not alone." He then drove the scalpel into his arm. But instead of penetrating his skin, it just bent as if someone tried to stab it into a wall. I gasped and looked up to see his smirking face. Laughing, he rolled his sleeve back down. Once he got up I spoke in a soft whisper, "What are you?"

He stood halfway between the door and me. After a few seconds he said-

"That's something for me to know and you to never find out." Son of a bit—

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. You have a visitor." Shit! I couldn't have anyone seeing me like this, all… freakish and whatnot.

"Could you tell them to give me a moment."

"I'll do that." He smiled and left.

Great. Now my doctor might be some kind of gorgeous freak with impenetrable skin. Just another thing to add to my list of weird things that have happened to me.

Life just couldn't get any wierder. Now if only I could somehow get rid of these stupid things sticking out of my fingers! Maybe if I clicked my heels chanting 'There's no place like no claws,' they would go away. If only it were that easy!

_Just imagine them sinking into your hands and they will._

What the hell was that?

_Just try it._

Taking the voice in my head's advice, I suddenly started to get a tingling feeling in my fingers. Looking down, I watched the metal slide down into my fingers. It didn't stop until the very tips had slipped down into my fingers and the skin _sealed_ over them, making it as if they were never there. Weird.

I then remembered I had a visitor and called them in.

"Raquel?" What the hell—

"Richard?"

XxXxX

**AN: Wow… I just popped out a nice long chappie for you guys (well its long for me.) Anyways, thank you to the always gorgeous CARLISLE CULLEN for making a guest appearance. He might show up in later chapters, but who knows… Oh-wait… I do! XP**

**Sincerely,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	8. Relationships

XxXxX

**Raquel POV**

"What are you doing here?" Richard was standing in the doorway with a bouquet of flowers and a folded blue cloth wrapped in ribbon in one hand with my jacket, wearing a form-fitting, vintage graphic tee with dark jeans, a pair of dark Ray-Bans (for some ungodly reason since it is dark out and we're inside) and a pair of chucks.

"I wanted to see how you were feeling." Sympathy laced his words as he fully stepped into the room, sitting on the chair that my doctor had just sat on.

"Well I'm fine, don't really remember anything but that's nothing to worry about. Now I don't know about you but I'm tired and I should probably go to sleep so…"

"Whoa, slow down. I just got here-I was hoping I could talk to you." He put the flowers and the blue cloth onto the bedside table to my left as he got up to close the door.

The cloth looked familiar to me but I couldn't place the name of where I'd seen it. I reached for the cloth. I picked it up and felt the soft, smooth texture of it. I slowly started to take off the ribbon.

"The people at the front desk said that Nightwing went to get it after he brought you here. Apparently he knew that it was of great importance to you, along with your jacket. How he knows that eludes me?" He said sitting down after he closed the door.

" 'Eludes me?' What? Did you decide to pull out the vocab book today?" I said with a smirk.

"Don't be jealous of my _incalculable_ intelligence. If you want we could have study date and I could teach you _everything _I know… " He winked with a sly grin that made him look so hot—wait—where the hell did that come from? Even though he does look pretty sexy with his unruffled hair, striking blue eyes and amazing body —_Stop It!_ He's a pompous rich kid that gets everything he wants… right? _**CRACK**_ Damn I totally forgot about my powers, and now my heart rate monitor has a giant crack in the screen.

"The Hell was that?" Richard yelled. He immediately backed away from the machine.

"I don't know… maybe its just faulty." I lied.

"Alright, whatever. I'm going to get a nurse and see what she could do about it." He went to the door and started to wave down a nurse.

That's when I noticed the sound. The consistent _**beep…beep…beep.**_ My heartbeat was back to normal. Once again, making sure it was right, I pressed two fingers just underneath my chin. I got the same beat. When did that happen? How come I didn't feel the difference? However it happened, I know that this won't be the last thing to happen to me.

I went back to unwrapping the ribbon. I finally finished taking it off when I gasped. My mother's cloak was sitting in my lap, her brooch staring up at me. Once again there was a note that was attached to it only this time my name was written in neat, crisp writing on the outside. I carefully opened it to read what was said.

_Raquel,_

_I found this nearby and I assumed it was yours. How I know? I found the note next to it along with your jacket and a gun. Don't plan on getting the gun back anytime soon, I think I'm going to keep it with me for awhile until you learn your lesson. If you need to contact me just look inside your jacket pocket and press the little red button. _

_Until then,_

_Nightwing_

_P.S.- Your secret is safe with me. _

I skimmed over the note again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I put down the note and looked over at my jacket that was sitting on the table next to me. I reached over to grab it when a large, tan hand grabbed my wrist.

I looked up to see none other than my strange, gorgeous doctor staring down at me with his beautiful gold eyes and an all-knowing smirk on his perfectly sculpted lips. "You should not be straining yourself, Raquel. You might reopen a wound." He let go of my wrist as he walked away with an I-know-something-that-no-one-else-knows look on his face. I wiped the longing from my face as I pulled my hand back and leaned back against the headboard, watching Dr. Cullen flip through papers on his clipboard.

"Well Ms. Roth. You don't have any serious injuries other than the rather large cuts on your hands as well as your back. I recommend that you wrap your hands in bandages when you leave. Other than that you seem to be recovering very well, I might even say that you'll be given leave within the next 2 days."

"I can't leave any sooner?" I said with desperation.

"You seem to be in a rush. May I ask why?" He tilted his head in wonder.

"Uh… it's nothing important. I just don't like hospitals that much." Liar.

"Well it all depends on how you're feeling. By the way how—"

"—I think she's a little tired Doctor, if you don't mind I think she needs a little rest." Richard interrupted bitterly with a cold glare at Dr. Cullen. He was leaning against the wall opposite my bed with his arms across his chest looking very annoyed.

My doctor looked at him shocked then turned to me with a look of question on his face. "Well, if you are tired than just say so Ms. Roth. I'm sure my talking could have waited for another time. But since it has been pointed out (rather rudely I might add) that you are tired then I will just take my leave. Until next time…" He turned and walked out of the room, but not without taking a glance at Richard that was so slight I had to be paying close attention. The door closed and Richard suddenly huffed in exasperation.

"What the hell's got your panties in a bunch?" I said.

"I don't like him." He grumbled.

"Why? What did the poor guy ever do—"

"—I don't like the way you looked at him…" He admitted. I was shocked. Of all the things he could've of said, that was the last thing I thought would come out of his mouth. Confusion settled onto my face as I watched him walk to the side of my bed. He pulled a chair to my bed and sat down.

"I've been trying to get you to look at me like that ever since I met you. But suddenly this doctor, who thinks he's so hot, is able to get you ogling him. That's why I don't like him. Because he grabbed your attention that I so obviously craved." He took off his sunglasses and looked me in the eyes with his deep blue eyes.

"Richard…" I was rendered speechless by his admission. He seemed so occupied with other things that I didn't even know he even paid attention to who I was, let alone had feelings towards me. So many thoughts were going in my head as he suddenly spoke up.

"Raquel, I care for you more than I should yet I don't know how to go about getting you to see me. I know you probably don't feel anything towards me but that's because you don't know the real me. I'm not just some playboy like everyone makes me out to be. I'm a good guy and if you just give me the opportunity to show you who I truly am then you won't ever regret it." He finished in with a deep breath as if someone just took the weight of the world off his shoulders.

Did I have any feelings for him? I don't know. He is very much attractive but that's all I really see. I never have deep conversations with him, we never hang out together, and we have only seen each other at some parties. That's pretty much it. But in the past I've never given myself the opportunity to have a relationship other than… well, someone else but that's not enough. Maybe Richard could really show me what a true relationship is like. What if he could make me truly happy?

"And where would be our first date?" His handsome face glowed when I spoke, as if some hope had renewed all life within him. "Well Ms. Roth, I was thinking this Saturday night I could take you out to a nice dinner with live music and maybe show you around the nicer part of town after." His charming grin was plastered on his face as the seriousness of the situation turned playful as I agreed to a time.

"By the way, you might want to wear something a little more dressy." He said rising to leave.

"And why would that be?" I said, a small smile on my face as I watched him walk to the door.

"Well I'm taking you somewhere that calls for dressy attire. Not to mention you look breathtaking in dresses." He winked as he opened the door.

In an attempt to maintain some sort of normality in me I replied, "What can I say, I try." But he, always wanting the last word, turned serious once more and said, "No, you don't and that's what makes you all the more beautiful." He smiled then left the room. I stared at the door for a few moments when the realization of what just happened dawned on me. I just made a date with the infamous Richard Grayson! The biggest playboy after his father. Who has a different girlfriend every week yet now has taken a sudden interest in me. For all I know he could be lying. Yet he could be talking straight from his heart. Yet whatever it is, I'm in way over my head.

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair when I noticed my room. It was a complete disaster! Broken glasses were scattered, papers were skewed, there was a giant crack in the window, the drapes were torn to shreds, the sink was ruptured… everything was just a mess! That's when I remembered the thing about my emotions. If this happened everytime I even talked about relationships, I don't even know what would happen if I were in one.

That's when I decided that I really needed to go back to Jump City.

To see Azar.


	9. Envy

**AN: Hey All! I'm back with the next chapter. I apologize for the sporadic updating. School's been getting harder lately especially with my creative writing class, with all the crap that my teacher gives me. But hopefully its all worth it. So here it is, Chapter 9!**

**Disclaimer: I know I forgot the last chapter so here it is twice…I don't own the teen titans… I don't…own… the teen… titans. **_**Sigh **_**I hope I never have to do that again.**

**Raquel POV**

I pulled on a pair of jeans as I was getting ready to leave the hospital. After Richard left he came back, within a couple of hours, giving me a set of clothes he got from my dorm that I could change into when I leave (which earned him a good punch on the arm.) Fortunately it was my favorite pair of jeans with a comfy shirt and my Ed Hardy shoes. I had just taken a shower that was well deserved and long time coming.

It had been 2 days since I accepted a date with Richard and I still couldn't stop blowing stuff up. Every time the nurses came in for a checkup they had to bring a janitor, it became that frequent.

I haven't seen my doctor and Richard since that day. I'm starting to become a little doubtful about accepting his offer for a date. I mean, what if the reason why he hasn't come to see me is because he regrets his decision about asking me out? What if he doesn't want to see me again?

_Raquel, I'm 100% positive that he wants to see you again._

I turn around to see the person who just spoke up but found that the door was closed and that no one was in the room.

"Where did that come from?" I said.

Well it sure as hell didn't come from your ass!

There it is again! I crouched down and scanned the room for anyone who could've spoken.

"Whoever is here show your face. This joke that your playing is getting real old." I spoke out.

_If your waiting for someone to come out your going to be real disappointed_.

"Why? SHOW YOUR FACE!" I kept turning around in circles as things started to blow up as my anger rose to new heights.

_Your looking at her._

I turned around and came face to face with my reflection. My eyes were wide and my mouth agape. Horror was written all over my face. I composed myself and things slowly but surely stopped exploding. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "What is happening to me?"

_Your powers are growing stronger_.

I snapped my head up as I heard that voice again.

_Don't bother. I'm in your head._

...What!

_I'm intelligence. Remember me. _

"Your one of my emotions."

_Yes, very good. Now your probably wondering why you can hear me all of the sudden?_

"Whoa, how did you know what I was thinking?" I asked.

_I'm in your head. I can hear every thought that you have_.

"Oh..."

_Yes, well the reason why I can suddenly speak to you is because your powers are evolving. Not only are your powers evolvong, but so is your mind, body, and soul._

"Jeez, that sounds like something a yoga instructor would say."

_Yes, well that's just to get you to relax. Unfortunately, this information is not very comforting_.

"Why not?"

_Because your body is going to change in ways I do not understand, and that is something very rare for me._

"Wow, that must really hurt your ego than doesn't it!" I snickered.

_Be serious. This is not something you should be joking about. Whatever it is, it may be harmful to your body._

"In what ways?"

_Like I said, I don't know. But what I do know is that whatever is going to happen, its going to happen soon._

"Well then I might just get the surprise of my life. Now, when you first spoke you said that you were 100% positive that Richard wasn't doubtful. Why would you say that?" I said, quickly changing the subject. I heard a sigh.

_That wasn't me who said that. It was wisdom_.

"So she just randomly started talking to me? Can all my emotions do that?" I then continued getting dressed as I spoke to intelligence.

_Yes._

"Oh... Well then, let me talk to her."

_You know I'm here the whole time. Its not like a phone where you just pass it to another speaker. I'm in your mind. I hear everything you say or think and, whether or not its obvious, I'm not going anywhere. *sigh* Anyways, the reason why I said that is because I could feel his emotions._

A little annoyed by her rant, I roughly pulled my shirt on as I asked, "What do you mean 'feel his emotions?' Can you read his mind or something?"

_Its not mind reading its called empathy, and its not me who's doing it. It's you._

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Don't you think that if I was the one doing it something like that would've been obvious to me?" I questioned in shock.

_Ahh, but you did. Why did you think you suddenly agreed to his proposal? His affection and curiosity radiated off of him and affected you, hence the reason for your change of heart. You, my dear, are an empath. Your pow-_

"-let me guess, it's part of my powers evolving isn't it?" I commented, already knowing the answer.

_Pretty much._

"Well that makes things a lot more interesting... And easier." I said, pulling on my shoes.

_Yeah_.

"Well, Thanks for the info."

_No problem. But you might want to stop talking to yourself cause the nurse is about to walk in. _

"How do you- I mean me- know that?"

_Her emotions are radiating off her. But not enough to the point where you would be able to notice. If you did, let's just say that would've been nothing short of amazing._

"Gee, thanks-" the door suddenly opened as the nurse walked in.

_Your welcome and if you ever need to talk to one of us just think the name of the emotion and we'll talk to you._

I nodded as I pretended nodding my head to an unknown beat as I finished tying my shoes. I looked up and took notice of the nurse. It was the same one that freaked out when I originally woke up. This time she had a janitor tailing her, just like all the others, with a clipboard in her arms.

"Ok Ms. Roth, the results from the tests you took earlier tested negative for any drugs in your system. You are officially free to leave." She tucked her clipboard under her arm and smiled at me. All the while, the janitor was cleaning up all the broken glass and debris.

"Thank you so much. I apologize for all the damage I have caused. I'll be sure to send a check to replace everything." I said, sincerity lacing my words.

"I appreciate the kindness Ms. Roth but there is no need. Mr. Grayson has paid for everything before he left." She smiled and instantly got a lovestruck look upon her face. Suddenly a wave of affection hit me and I knew that it was coming from her.

While she was in her daydream about Richard, I thought of one word.

_So soon?_

'You told me I wouldn't be able to sense anything that strong until later.'

_And I fully stand by that. I'm assuming that your powers are evolving at an unusually fast rate._

'Well isn't that peachy.'

Over the couple of seconds that our conversation took place, the janitor had left the room and the nurse was still in her little wonderland with Richard. I decided to play on my assumptions.

"I'm assuming that you have a crush on Mr. Grayson?" I smirked, hoping to catch her off guard. She seemed young, maybe in her early 20's so I thought it completely understandable if she thought she had a chance with him.

But she surprised me when she shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Of course. Any woman who doesn't is either blind or in a mental hospital." Well that caught me off guard.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that all of the women in Gotham envy you."

Wait. . . . . . WHAT?

"There was a rumor that went out that he came to visit you and you alone in the hospital (which was obviously true). Of course you can always trust the media to turn it into some sort of relationship between the two of you. So now every woman in Gotham thinks that there really is a relationship and the paparazzi are now swarming the main entrance as we speak."

I took that all in as I walked toward the window of the room. I pulled open the curtain and looked down towards the entrance. Fortunately, my window faced the street so I was able to peer down and seen the hordes of people with cameras that were standing at the front. Every time a car drove up, they swarmed it taking pictures of the poor souls who they assumed had something to do with either me or Richard. Which made me assume that he must be here since I've been here this whole time and no one has even cared. Only one word came to mind.

Shit.

"Anyhow, I have to leave. But before I go-" I turned to see her at the door with a mischeivious smirk on her face,"-Richard is in the lobby waiting for you." With that said, she turned around and left the room.

Good job, Richard. Come pick me up and add more fuel to the already blazing fire. I sighed as I picked up my mother's cloak and my jacket, along with my cell phone and left the room.

XxXxX

**Richard's POV**

I stood at the lobby desk, waiting for Raquel to walk out. I was starting to get a little—ok, maybe really—annoyed by the woman at the desk who kept staring at me every 5 seconds. I know I'm famous but, seriously, take a picture. It's not just her though. Every time a female nurse or patient passed by they always took a long glance at me and kept walking as if I didn't notice. I felt like a statue waiting to be appraised. *sigh* I hope Raquel walks out soon.

Just as I thought my wishes were about to be shot down, Raquel walks down the hallway. Her dark hair wet from what I assume was a shower, her t-shirt clung to her figure accentuating her generous chest, with a pair of skinny jeans that enhanced the curvature of her hips and her jacket thrown over her shoulders with her cloak in hand. I would swear that I was the luckiest man in the world. She walked to a stop about a foot from me with a small smile on her face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. I simply shrugged and in a cool voice responded, "I was hoping that I could give you a ride back to the dorms. Maybe even go out for a cup of coffee."

"Well, I don't know about you but I don't want to get bombarded by the media. I don't even know how we are going to get out of here without being spotted." She sighed, running her hand through her hair making me wish it was my hand that was running through her silky locks. I smirked as I dug my hands into my pocket and tossed my hair to the side to get a stray out of my eyes.

"What if I told you that I know a secret entrance out of the back way that no one except the people who built this hospital know of?"

"And how would you know something like that?" My smirk turned into a grin as I leaned toward her and whispered into her ear,

"I helped build it."

I leaned back and suddenly noticed the attention that we were getting from the staff and patients. I focused my gaze back onto Raquel as she bit her lip and looked down in thought. She focused her eyes back to mine when she whispered a small, "Ok."

My grin broadened as I grabbed her hand and led her to the elevator. As the elevator doors opened to let us in, I looked out and noticed all the women who were craning their necks to peer at us. I glanced at Raquel and saw that she, as well, noticed the peering women. We entered the large, metal box as she dropped her head and chuckled to herself in amusement. The doors started to close and Raquel and I were the only two in the elevator.

"Something funny?" I asked. 

"It amuses me by how desperate and predictable women are." She responded, looking up at me as the doors closed. "Are you sure it's not just because I'm the sexiest man in America?" I pulled out an ID card and slid it into the control panel. It beeped and I entered in the code to get us down to the parking level. "Actually it's because I'm the sexiest woman in America." She bit back with a sly smirk on her face as the elevator slowly started to descend. I laughed as I then noticed the magazine rack that held People magazine's most recent issue with the 50 sexiest men and women in America. I picked it up and started to flip through it.

"Are you sure?" I then found the page with number 1 male, and would you guess who it was? "_Richard Grayson. At a delectable_ _6"2 with a body that makes any man wish they had and any women wish that they could touch, we chose him as our sexiest man in the nation. With his dashing good looks and charming personality it's more than enough to turn the heads of any woman in the room and make them drool after him. Son of Bruce Wayne, who's ranked number 8 on our list, it's no wonder where he gets all the charm. Not to mention his motorcycle which gives him the bad boy image and his deep blue eyes that can melt any women's heart. He's been able to catch the hearts of some of our top 10 ranked sexiest women. Such as Danielle Shelby (pg 62), sisters Michelle and Marissa Pagan (pg 65, pg 67), and there have been rumors that he's caught the attention of the dark yet sexy beauty, Raquel Roth, who's ranked number 1 on our sexiest women chart (pg 57). Whether these rumors are true or not, there would be not doubt that Raquel Roth and Richard Grayson would be the sexiest couple in America. _Now there's a question. Has Richard Grayson caught the heart of the mysterious and incredibly _sexy_ Raquel Roth?" I finished as I looked at her, waiting for an answer. She looked up at me through her long lashes as she responded in a deep voice that had shivers running up and my spine,

"The world may never know."

I only smirked as the elevator slowed to a stop. Raquel took note of what floor we were on and suddenly went from amused to annoyed. She sighed in frustration, "The parking lot? Are you serious? That's the first place they would go." I could only chuckle at her when I put my sunglasses on. "We're not going out that way."

"I don't know if you noticed but there's only one way out." She huffed. I then turned around so I was facing the back wall of the elevator.

"Well if you turned around then you would notice that there is more than one way out." The wall in front of me then opened as I was vaguely aware of Raquel turning around to face the same direction I was. I could only smirk as I heard her gasp.

XxXxX

**AN: I am very happy with the way this chapter turned out. The next chapter should be very exciting though with very little between the two cause I'm pretty sure I've written enough about the two in the last two chapters to last me awhile. But don't be discouraged because I will enter little bits here and there. I will start churning out chapters a little faster now since basketball season is coming to a close and I just got a new blackberry that has word on it so I can write on the go (its so awesome!) I will updating around every two weeks now. But for now, reviews are very much appreciated.**

**Until later,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	10. Car Freak

AN: Hello there! Here's another chapter to satisfy your needs. Though I have to say that I lied in the authors note of the last chapter. Once you start reading this chapter you will understand. Other than that, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own the teen titans... Yet... No, not yet just never.

XxXxX

Raquel POV

Holy shit.

When Richard told me to turn around, my breath left me as I stared down the long room that held a car lovers heaven.

What I am assuming was an underground garage, the room stretched the length of a football field and at the far end I could barely see a small driveway that led up to the streets. To my left and to my right were rows of cars. There were muscle cars, luxury cars, exotic cars, heavy-duty trucks, a couple of hummers, and some tuners.

If you didn't notice, I'm a pretty big car freak.

I started to walk into the room as I studied some of the nicer vehicles. There were three that stood out the most. The first was a black 1969 Chevy Chevelle with red racing stripes, tinted windows, and what looked like 18" rims (that may not seem like a lot but its pretty big on a muscle car). The second, was a silver 2009 Audi A5 also with tinted windows and 20" rims. The third and my favorite was a white 2009 Bentley GT Continental. It had tinted windows (obviously) and white rims that was the same size as the Audi. Now I had some pretty nice cars back home (like my black 1999 Lexus with white wings painted on the side. It was lowered with some 20" Volk rims on. It is beautiful!) But just being in a single room with all these amazing cars is sorta overwhelming.

I walked over to the Bentley and studied it, admiring the amazing detail and curvature of the beautiful (and very expensive) vehicle. Then I heard jingling behind me as I turned to see Richard behind me holding a set of keys. He tossed them to me and I looked down to see that they were the keys to the Bentley.

"You wanna drive?" I looked up at him and answered, "You have to ask?" He smirked and walked up to the driver door. At first I was a little confused because I thought I was driving. But I realized why when he put his hand on the handle as if he were opening the door and waited a second. Out of nowhere a voice came from the car, "Identification complete." He opened the car door for me and gestured with his other hand for me to enter. "You had an Artificial Intelligence system built into your car?" I asked.

"Not just in this car but in all my cars that cost more than $150,000 dollars and my favorites like the Lexus and the Chevelle you were peering at."

"Geez, your anal about your stuff aren't you?"

"Not really, I just care about my possessions that I put my heart into... And I am pretty over-protective of my things." I only glanced at him with amusement written on my features as I sat in the drivers seat. He shut the door for me and walked around to get to the passenger side, but I was too busy admiring the interior. It was just as nice as the exterior. It had a white leather seats with a black RG stitched into the headrest.

"I wonder what the RG stands for?" I said, smirking at Richard as he shrugged, "I couldn't help it. I wanted to brand it as mine somehow, and I thought it looked cool." I only shook my head as I continued to admire the inside. There was a dark wood grain along dashboard as well as the stick shift. It also lined the media console that held the touch screen nav and CD player.

I inserted the key into the ignition and started the car. The car almost literally came to life as the engine started with a purr and a female voice came from the center console. "Welcome, Richard." I let out a chuckle as I put on my seatbelt.

"Hello, Ari." He responded. I gave him a questioning glance at the name and he blushed in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. A part of me was surprised since he never gets embarrassed, but another part of me thought it made him so much more attractive.

**AAAAAAAHHHHH... He looks absolutely adorable!**

I was a little surprised at the voice since I had never heard it before, but the emotion simply answered my thought.

**I'm affection. **

'Oh well that makes sense.'

I came back to the real world as I heard "Ari" say, "I do not detect your body signature in the driver's seat." He continued looking at the console as he responded, "I'm having a friend drive with me today."

"Should I store their physical information into my database?" He then turned to me with what I assume was a hopeful look on his face as he said, "Sure. Hopefully she might be with us more in the future." I tried staring through his sunglasses into his eyes as I tried to decipher what he meant. Does he plan on us becoming something more? How far does he plan on taking our relationship? Am I more to him than some bimbo of the week? I continued to try and read his face as the A.I. spoke up, "Reading…" I then felt something like a massage go down my back. I reveled in the feel when it stopped and the A.I. Spoke up, "Female, height of 5"5, weighs 115 pounds, 16.3% of body fat. Say your name."

"Raquel Roth."

"...Please repeat." At least the thing is polite.

"Raquel Roth." I looked over at Richard to see him smirking. I gave him the coldest glare I could muster. Mental note: Threaten him if he mentions anything incriminating about my body.

"Voice identification, complete. Please place your thumb on the scanner." I looked around for the scanner but I couldn't see one. Richard then pointed to a small black rectangle to the left of the screen. I quickly lifted my hand and placed my thumb on the scanner. After a second, it beeped and I took my thumb from the scanner.

"Fingerprint identification, complete. Welcome, Raquel. You are now entered into the system." I looked at Richard with a questioning glance, "System?"

"Yeah. Now you have access to all the cars with an A.I. program on it." I was a little surprised when he told me that.

"That's a lot of cars. But why would you let me do that?" I asked.

"Because I trust you... and from the way you were eyeing a couple of the cars I know that you would take care of them." Wow. That's a lot of trust. I didn't know that he trusted me enough to let me access around a million dollars worth of his cars. Another wave of emotion hit me only this time I couldn't tell what it was. I tried to determine what it was by trying to read his soft expression but I couldn't get anything. I was a little confused since I didn't understand what it was but I tried to hide it. Instead I just responded with a soft-spoken, "Thank you." He looked at me and smiled a smile that made my heart race, "Your welcome." His smile abruptly changed into a mischievious smirk, "By the way-"

"-you better not say anything about my weight because if you do I will shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be shitting Adidas for a week." I interrupted, effectively shutting him up.

"She's a keeper."

I erupted in laughter as Ari spoke up. Richard only chuckled in response. After about a minute of laughing I finally calmed down. "Why don't we actually drive now since we've been sitting in this car for a good 20 minutes?" Richard asked. With my hand on stick shift I pressed the clutch, moved the car into first and pulled out of the parking spot. With about a hundred yards in front of me I immediately switched into second gear. As the driveway came closer I looked to Richard wondering—hoping—if the driveway door would open. As we were getting closer to the driveway door I kept getting worried but Richard didn't even respond. He just kept his eyes ahead and if I had looked close enough I would've noticed the hint of amusement in his features. I tried putting as much trust in him as he did in me as I kept going without showing any sign of slowing down.

When we were 20 feet from the door it finally opened as the doors slid to the side and we darted up the driveway and into the open of the beautiful sunny day as we darted across the back lot of the hospital. The hospital itself was rather large so we were speeding across the long stretch of road behind it toward the main street. As I came toward the end of the road I slowed into first gear and made a quick turn left and pulled out into the main street. I quickly shifted into second as I drove away from the hospital. I looked into my rearview to see the some paparazzi trying to get a picture of the tail of the car while the others were too stunned to do anything. I chuckled to myself as I pulled onto the freeway and quickly shifted from second all the way up to sixth in rapid succession.

The feeling of the car's power at the tip of my fingers made me feel powerful, yet relaxed. The purr of the engine calmed me as I sped by others, the outside world figuratively blurred to me.

"So when did you become a car freak?" I turned to Richard as he spoke up. I could feel a hint of curiosity coming from him as I returned my focus back to the road in front of us. I quickly debated to myself of whether or not I should tell him something that personal.

_But he did tell you that he trusted you, which I'm pretty sure is something that he wasn't hesitant to divulge. _Wisdom spoke up.

'But this is something that went on only between my Father and I. I've never told anybody about my passion for cars.' I thought.

_I say that you should tell him. He trusts you enough with something personal I think you should give him something right back._

I thought about it for a moment before I sighed and gave in. "My father was an avid car enthusiast. Of course being extremely close with my parents, I tended to pick up things from both of them. From my father, I picked up his love for music when I wanted to learn guitar and his passion for cars. He taught me everything he knew. When I was 10, we would drive around some neighborhood looking for old, beat-up muscle cars that he could fix up so they would look brand new. In the months before he died, he taught me all of the parts of the engine and being relatively smarter then most children that age I was able to remember all of them. 2 months before he died I was able to take apart the engine, name all the parts, then put it back together. I remember him being so proud of me." I tried to hold myself together as I remembered that day with my father. I tried keeping my voice monotone, but failed as pride and love spilled into my voice, "I remember the huge smile on his face as he lifted me up and twirled me around in happiness as I had just finished putting together the engine. I wore a smile on my face for the rest of the day, especially when he bought me ice cream in congratulations." A small smile embraced my features as I remembered the day but the feeling was bittersweet since I couldn't help but remember the day he died. Richard noticed my grim expression.

"I'm sorry if I brought up a bad memory." Richard spoke up. I glanced towards him and saw him take off his sunglasses and look at me. There was worry and sorrow written in his deep, blue eyes. He continued to look at me as I tried paying attention to the road, when he spoke up, "If you don't mind me asking, what did you pick up from your mother?" I went still as he mentioned my mother. I remembered everything that we did together, trying to put aside the thought that she was truly gone. "I got her love for learning knew things, her passion to dance, and her love of tea." I chuckled at the last one since it seemed so small compared to everything else. I heard a small chuckle from Richard. "So let's see: you can put together an engine, you can dance, you can play guitar, you love to read, I've heard you speak in multiple languages, I've heard you sing in a studio-"

"—you heard that! I thought there was nobody in the studio that day?" I've only sung in a studio once and was a little surprised that he admitted to seeing me sing, but glad too since it made me forget about the recent loss of my mother. "Originally, there wasn't. I was passing by and I heard someone singing. So curiosity took over and I went inside. When I discovered it was you I was more than surprised. I think that was when I truly started to feel attracted to you." I blushed at his blunt admission that he was attracted to me even though he said it before. The fact that he was proud to admit that he liked me still made me blush.

"But out of all the things your good at, is there anything you can't do?" he asked. Well sure there were plenty of things that I couldn't do but the way he asked it made me seem like I'm perfect or something. "Well, I don't know how to fight, I'm a horrible cook, I'm horribly un-athletic, I can't play the piano, I can't draw, I'm horrible with history, I can't tell the difference between rugby and football, I'm horrible with animals… should I keep going?" he shook his head. "I think I get the picture." The scenery around us started to change as the freeway started to get emptier and the landscape turned from city buildings to rolling grass hills and trees.

"What about you? Do you share anything with Bruce other than the fact that your both notorious playboys?" I asked. He laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his neck again. "Well, not much. I don't really talk to him. Only when its about the company. But I do know that we both have leadership qualities, were both extremely stubborn yet determined and we both like to work out." I rolled my eyes. "Really? I couldn't tell." I replied, playfulness in my tone. It was more than obvious though that the two like to workout since Bruce was a big guy with broad shoulders with a very defined chest and shoulders, seen in the times he's gone to the beach. Whereas Richard was more lithe though he still had the amazing chest and abs from what I've seen in magazines from his 'modeling' career. "Ha Ha Ha. Very funny. But that's really all we have in common. I picked up the guitar cause I saw a band in concert one year and I decided that I wanted to be the cool guy wailing on his guitar and I did just that. I play the lead guitar in a band and I couldn't be any happier."

"Do you think I could hear you play?" I inquired. I was really interested to hear him play in front of a crowd.

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On if there's a second date." A sad tone took residence in his voice. I was stunned. I didn't believe that he would have second doubts about a relationship. The thought just rendered me speechless. He cleared his throat and shook his head, "Just forget about it. Umm… But everything I learned is either because I've seen it somewhere and took an interest in it or my butler, Alfred, taught it to me." He said.

"What has Alfred taught you?" I inquired. I was thoroughly enjoying our conversation and I can honestly say that I didn't want it to end. I was learning new things about him that I would've never imagined, seeing sides of him I've never seen before. It was surprising that I could have such a deep conversation with him without having any sort of sexual innuendo. If we continued to have deep conversations like this, I would slowly but surely fall in love with him.

"He's taught me how to cook, how to dance, he taught me my manners, and he's trying to teach me how to play piano, but that's not going too well." The freeway ended and continued into a road as I slowed to the fifth gear so I could enjoy the view. I rolled down the window so I could let the cool breeze run through my hair. "How come?" I asked. "I've been so invested in… other things I haven't been practicing as much lately." So much for a healthy conversation. I felt his eyes roam over me as I continued to drive. I was so used to being appraised that I really didn't care anymore. As long as he didn't do anything brash. "I'm not even going to ask." With a smirk he leaned towards me and said in a low voice, "Why not? It involves you." His voice sent shivers down my spine, but I tried to ignore it as I bit back with a casual, "That's why." He erupted into a fit of laughter, his deep laugh making me smirk.

His laughter died down after a minute and we left the comfortable silence alone as we drove through the trees down the empty path. After 5 minutes of silence, a question popped in my head and I couldn't help but ask, "Why did you decide to come to college? You have everything you need to be successful in life, I would think that college would just be a nice alternative." The question had been bothering me for quite some time now and I thought it would be a perfect time to ask. Richard reeled a little from the drastic change in topic. I looked at Richard to see him deep in thought. "I'm going to Gotham University because I wanted something different. The life of fame just became too boring. Don't get me wrong, I love being famous! I just got tired of being in the spotlight all the time. I wanted to get away and I thought college would be the perfect way. If you think about it, it's almost exactly like my life now. Parties, I get to choose my own schedule, and I still have to work. But the best part about coming here is the freedom." I felt a wave of content come off him as I heard him let out a sigh of relief. He then turned to me and asked the same question.

"I came here for the same reasons you came here, to get away from it all… to feel like another stranger in the crowd. Fame started becoming a burden that I didn't want to bear. Hopefully, college would help me carry the weight."

Gotham University finally came into view as the trees started to get smaller and lessened in numbers. The grandeur of the main building made itself stand out amongst the horizon. As we got closer we could see the multitudes of cars in front of the main gates. The paparazzi had somehow gotten word of us heading to Gotham U.

I could only sigh. "So much for avoiding paparazzi." Richard voiced my thoughts. "How much trouble do you think I would be in if I ran one of them over?" I seethed. They completed ruined our conversation, severely ruining my mood and pissing me off. "Pull over real quick I have an idea." Richard said. He was giving off some daring emotion as I pulled over to the side of the road. We were still a good 3 quarters of a mile from them so they couldn't exactly see us unless they looked really hard for us.

I turned off the car and Richard opened his door and ran around the front of the car. "Switch with me. I got a good idea to really freak them out without letting them get a good picture of us." He opened the door for me and I climbed out. I ran around the car to the passenger side and quickly got inside the car, shutting the door. "Ari, can you hack into the gate operating system and open it when we're 300 feet from the entrance?" Richard said, starting the car. The only response we got was the screen changing so we could see multiple columns of numbers running across the screen. "Good. Raquel... you might want to hold on?" He grinned at me, making me nervous. He drove the car back to the middle of the road and revved the engine multiple times. It was loud enough so paparazzi turned towards the road and looked at each other wondering what it was. Richard revved the engine again getting a couple of paparazzi to start jogging towards us.

I finally understood what Richard wanted to do when he looked at me with a devilish smirk and revved the engine once more. More and more paparazzi started leaking out onto the road as they came to see what was happening. When about half of them, around 25 people, were scattered along the road he quickly hit the clutch, switched to first, and punched the gas. We burst forward as he swiftly changed into second and third. We started to bear down onto the paparazzi as they finally realized what was happening and started running back to the gates. Some dove out of our way as a path was created for us to the gate. Just as told, the gates parted like the red sea when we were 300 feet from it. Yet Richard wanted to be reckless. He abruptly jerked the wheel to the left, spinning the car in a 180 and hitting the shift into the reverse, pulling through the gates backwards. Excitement and exhilaration pumped through my body as a scream of joy erupted from me as we sped backwards into the campus. The gates were already closing once we pulled through and I could do nothing but laugh at the paparazzi as I gazed at some of their stunned faces. My powers were then released causing a dark energy to surround their cameras and then explode into a bunch of little pieces. Well, at least it was only their cameras instead of something really expensive.

He spun the car back around so we were facing forward as we drove further into the school. There was a half a mile stretch between the gates and the school so I tried to get my breath together. I could almost see his head inflate from his ego. "You couldn't just drive straight through it?" He gave a deep chuckle and said, "It was just too tempting. I wanted to see your reaction and seeing your face like that was totally worth it. Not to mention that scream, I think you tore my eardrum." I could only blush and look out the window. "Well don't think your gonna see me like that again."

"I wouldn't be too sure." I turned to look at him and saw him pointing at the screen. I looked down and saw a picture of me, one hand on the dashboard the other on his arm as I had an expression of pure joy. My mouth was open in mid-scream but a smile evident on my lips with my eyes closed and my hair flying around my face.

"You got Ari to take a picture of me while we were in mid-spin?" I said exasperated. "Oh, come on! That's a great picture!" There was a mocking grin on his face. "Whatever." I turned away from him, with a small smile on my face. I couldn't be completely mad with him. After today I wouldn't be capable of it.

I stared out the window as a comfortable silence settled between Richard and I. There was a small planter with trees that divided the 2 lanes on each side of the road for the length of the drive. The right lane seperated from the main road and dipped down into the ground. Richard took that road down and we started to spiral down into the ground. The single lane turned into 2 lanes as I saw it was an underground parking lot that held 3 levels. It looped about 3 times for students to turn off at each level. The top was for the sophomores, the middle for the juniors, and the bottom for the seniors since it was the closest to the entrance to the school. Freshman weren't allowed to have cars on campus. Richard pulled off onto the topmost level and parked into an empty spot. He turned off the engine but the screen was still on.

"I'll see you later Ari. If someone hits the car you know what to do." Richard said.

"As always, Richard. Raquel, I will enjoy speaking with you again." I smiled.

"Me too, Ari."

Richard and I got out of the car and shut the doors. The doors automatically locked and the windows darkened so no one could see inside. As we were walking away I looked up at Richard to see his face. There was a pained look on his face, as if he were feeling a great loss. I tried to read his emotions and the biggest emotion was a feeling of worry. He gave a deep sigh and that only confirmed my suspicions.

"Are you ok?" He jerked his head toward me at the sudden question. He smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem like your worried about something."

"Well, I'm just a little worried about the car."

"Your worried? About the car? Richard, it has top dollar security system in it, with an Artificial Intelligence installed. If someone even looks at it you'll know. Only a true retard would be dumb enough to try and steal it. So you have nothing to worry about." I finished. He looked down at me and chuckled. He put on his sunglasses then threw his right arm over my shoulder. I didn't really mind it since I was so comfortable around him. "Your right. I shouldn't worry about anything. The only thing I should worry about is our date Saturday night." I only shook my head at his drastic change in thought. "I can understand why." He glanced at me, "Oh? And why is that?" I didn't even hesitate.

"I'm too much for you to handle."

I continued walking as I felt his arm fall off my shoulder and saw him completely still with a look of shock on his face. I simply turned around and laughed.

XxXxX

**Richard POV**

I can not believe she just said that… shy, modest Raquel just flirted with me. Flirted! Something must have happened to her while she was at the hospital to make her like this… or maybe I'm just rubbing off on her. That probably wouldn't be a good idea. I realized that she was pretty far ahead of me since I did stop so I sprinted ahead to catch up to her.

Once we reached the door at the opposite end of the lot, we opened it to see a tunnel with a moving walkway, like those things that they have at airports that are like long treadmills. We kept walking as we got on the walkway. After a couple of minutes we reached what resembled an old medieval building with 7 different archways that led to each building. Raquel lived in the same building as I did so we went down the 3rd archway that led to a staircase, which led up to the Dorm rooms. We both kept silent as we proceeded up the staircase. We got to about the 4th level of the 7 story building and walked down the hallway that I remember from not that long ago. It only seemed like yesterday when I was begging her to call me. Wait… How would she have called me when I had never even given her my number? Wooooww, I feel like an idiot.

We unfortunately reached her door as she stopped in front of it. She cradled her stuff to her chest with her right arm as her left hand was holding the keys to her room. I watched, mesmerized, as she bit her lower lip in thought. I could only imagine my teeth grazing across her full lips. If only.

"I had a great time with you today, Richard. I learned some things about you that I would've never even thought of. I'm glad we had this time together." Her eyes then lifted to mine when I noticed that they were no longer a gorgeous, deep blue, but a beautiful purple that resembled an amethyst. I was left speechless by the intensity of her gaze that I could only breath out a small, "Same here." She gave a small laugh when I suddenly heard something crash her room. She dropped her head and her smiled disappeared. I quickly came up with something to say, "I'm really glad that you had fun. Hopefully that gave you a little preview of what's gonna happen on Saturday." She only shook her head yet there was a small smile on her face.

"Alright, then. I'll be waiting." She turned and unlocked the door.

"What ever happened to the fair maiden giving her prince charming a goodnight kiss?" She turned back to me with an are-you-serious look on her face, "Your not my prince charming." She turned around and merely walked into her room shutting her door in my face. I placed my right arm on her door frame and leaned on it as I spoke through her door.

"Than what am I? Your Knight I shining armor?" I yelled.

After a couple of seconds, the door opened and she walked up to me. She grabbed the back of my neck and before I could react, she leaned up and lightly kissed my cheek. With her hand still on my neck, I rested my left hand against her waist as she whispered sexily into my ear,

"Your Richard," I gasped in a breath as I felt a smirk radiate from her and she breathed another sentence in my ear "the sexiest man alive." She lowered back down onto her feet and her hand trailed from my neck and her nails grazed down my chest sending chills throughout my body. She looked at me with a lustful gaze and a taunting smile and she backed into her room and shut her door.

I had took all the power in me not to grab her right there and ravish her. Who knew that she could be so sexy, so… so… taunting, like that?

_*Sigh* _I need a cold shower.


	11. Pain

**AN: I am truly sorry for the long wait. School has been a bitch for me these past couple of months and now that I'm out of school you won't have to worry about the long waits. I hope this chapter is worth it and I'll try to pop out the next one as soon as I can.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.**

XxXxX

**Raquel POV**

I can not believe I just did that!

I was trying to contain my laughter as I was leaning against the door of my room, listening to the fading steps of Richard. Once I could no longer hear him, I collapsed on the floor laughing. The look on his face was priceless! It was a mixture of shock and arousal. It was hysterical.

After a few minutes, I controlled my laughter to where I was able to stand up. I looked around my room and saw the damage I had done. A torn up bedsheet, papers all over the place, a couple of lights busted… that's pretty much it. I was surprised it wasn't more.

I heard a knock at the door only a minute after Richard left. I turned around and opened it to see a strange-looking girl. She had pink hair in two pigtails and pink, catlike eyes. She was very petite, almost pixie-like, around 5 feet tall, with her hand on her hip and a smug look on her face.

"Apparently you don't need an ambulance cause it looks like your doing _fine…_" she cocked a brow at the last word with a sly smirk on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I had absolutely no idea what this crazy girl was talking about.

"You go into shock in the middle of the hallway, Richie-boy runs up to you like the prince charming he is and you get him wrapped around your finger… and I was there to see it all happen."

… … … _Ding_

"You were the girl who called 911 for me about 4 days ago."

"Which was obviously unnecessary when I came back out to find you nowhere in sight." She crossed her arms across her chest and eyed me with a suspicious gaze. I blushed slightly at the memory.

"Yeah, about that-" A small chuckle came from the girl. "Don't worry about it. I was just messin' with ya. The name's Jenny, by the way. Jenny Dickinson." She stretched out her small, pale hand in greeting which I gratefully took. "Raquel Roth. Aren't you-" "—the daughter of James and Barbara Dickinson, the heir to the Dickinson fashion line and the Hotel 'Divine Fare'? Yeah, that's me." She interrupted with a shrug. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I could use a couple of friends right about now." I said. Her face turned grave.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Raquel. She seemed like a great person." My eyes started to water as memories of my mother once again flooded my mind.

"There's no need for you to apologize. It wasn't like you were the one who killed her." My thoughts turned to Dimond. Oh how I wanted to rip his heart out.

"Look, I didn't come over to make you depressed. I was hoping that you would join me and a couple of friends tonight in a little sleepover so that we could get to know each other a little bit better."

My thoughts of Dimond and my mother drifted away as I thought about the possibility of new friends. The chance of comfort and reprieve from all my worries. But there was the small problem of my emotions. If I got even a little bit happy something would explode and I couldn't risk anybody knowing of what I was capable of. Not to mention that I had to go back to Jump City to find the woman that Raven had told me to seek out. I had no time to go to a sleepover.

"I can't tonight. I have to fly back to Jump to organize the funeral." It wasn't a total lie. A disappointed look came across her features. "Oh, ok. But just in case, I'm only two doors down. If you need anything or your plane gets delayed, your welcome to come over at anytime." She stood straight, signaling the end of our conversation. "Thank you. I appreciate it." She nodded, "No problem. I have to go though so I'll talk to you later." I waved my goodbye as she walked down the hallway into her room. I turned around and walked back into mine, closing the door behind me. I looked over the mess that was my room.

_Jeez, you live in a pigsty… nice._

'Who is this?'

_Rude at your-__**buuurrrrp**__- service._

'Wow, that is disgusting.' I started cleaning up the room as wisdom spoke up.

_You get used to it after awhile._

'I don't think I'll ever be used to that.' All the voices went silent in my head as I continued to clean my room. It took me about 30 minutes to finish and when I was done I called Roger, my pilot, to tell him of my plans to leave to Jump.

Once I got that all sorted out I looked out the window to see the beautiful sunset. Sunsets are always my favorite part of the day. The way the multitude of colors fan across the blue sky and the true beauty it shows is wonderful. But I wanted a better view.

Making sure I had my room key and my cellphone, I walked out of my room and into the hallway. I headed back the way me and Richard came from and came upon the staircase that led to the upper floors. I climbed all the way up to the seventh floor and noticed a door to the right with a sign that said, 'Roof Access, Employees only.' No one would ever know. I walked up to it and tried opening the door. It didn't open. I only sighed in frustration as a new yet familiar voice spoke up in my head.

_Close your eyes, imagine the door unlocking and repeat after me… _I did just as she said and wrapped my hand around the handle.

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

_**Click**_

I opened my eyes and turned the handle as the door swung wide open. I stood in shock. '_Did I just do that?'_ I thought.

'_Yes, you have my powers now. Get used to it.'_

'For the time being, let me believe that you were the one who did it so I can say thank you.'

'_Your welcome, Raquel. Though it doesn't make sense since I'm in your body.'_

I climbed up one flight of stairs and reached a door that led onto the roof. I opened it and emerged onto the gravel rooftop. I walked up to the edge and sat down, watching the beautiful sunset.

I became lost in thoughts and memories as the sun started to fade into the darkness of the night. I remembered the times when my mom and I used to sit on my balcony and watch the sun set as we would talk about all of my drama, the famous people that she would meet, and any dreams we would have. But one memory stuck out the most.

Flashback

_I was sitting out on the balcony from my room. I had been sitting there for at least an hour, muttering to myself at my hopelessness. It was just past midnight when I heard mom walk into the room. _

"_How did you know I was up?" I asked. She gracefully slid into the chair next to me. That's what amazed me the most about her. Her grace and poise was so enchanting, it was almost inhuman._

"_I was passing by your room when I heard you talking to yourself. Is there anything you want to talk about?" I sighed as the problem resurfaced to the forefront of my thoughts. _

"_I'm scared, mom. This whole relationship with Malchior has made me wonder if he is as sincere as he claims to be. All my friends say that he is a crazed perv that only has sex on his mind. I don't want to believe them but how can I trust anyone else that I date if he really is a crazed perv?" _

"_Honey, your only 16. I wouldn't allow anything like that to happen to you in the first place, even if you did consent. Your too young to be doing things like that—"_

"—_MOM! You know I wouldn't do…___**it**_." I said, embarrassed she would even think that._

"_I know you wouldn't. But I trust you to believe in whatever decision you make. I'm not going to tell you whether you should trust your friends over your boyfriend or vise verse. Just do whatever you think is best." She gave me a soft smile then turned back to the stars. We sat in silence for awhile, just looking up into the night sky. Suddenly she spoke up._

"_I love nights like these. When the sky is free of clouds and the stars are given a chance to light up the night sky. It is so beautiful." She sat there for a few minutes more than stood up to leave. _

"_Was there supposed to be a hidden meaning in that?" I asked. _

"_Depends. Did you take something from it?" I nodded. "Then it did." She gave me a gentle smile, than walked out of my room._

End Flashback

That was probably one of the weirder yet more enjoyable moments with my mom. She always knew when to speak and what to say.

The sun had fully set and I was sitting in darkness looking up into the night sky. Stars dotted the dark blanket, as beautiful as always. I looked at my watch to see it was around nine, I had been sitting on the roof for an hour and a half. I sighed and stood up taking in the sight one last time before I went inside. My back was a little sore when I stood up, probably from sitting for so long. As I started walking back to the door a sharp pain ran from my head straight to the middle of my back.

A hiss escaped my lips as I knelt on the ground. The pain lingered throughout my upper back and head. After a few minutes of waiting I slowly stood. 'Must've turned my neck too fast or something.' I thought. As I was about to reach the door, I felt the pain once more. But this time it wasn't going away.

I keeled over in pain, my right hand going straight to the back of my head in an attempt to ease the agony. Waves of blinding white pain coursed through my head driving down to my upper back. The mind-numbing pain pierced my skull and the skin on my back burned from an invisible fire. I strained to pull off my shirt hoping that the cold air of the Gotham night would help ease the non-existent fire that was burning the skin on my back. It didn't.

_**CRACK**_

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

I felt my right shoulder blade snap as I cried out. Every moment felt like the pain seemed to get more intense, the fire burning a million degrees hotter. I felt the skin on my back break open right where my shoulder blades were.

_**CRACK**_

_**CRACK**_

I screamed in agony as the bones in my back kept breaking, one after another. I could only wish the pain would end. There was no one around to hear my cries of agony. No one around to help ease the pain. I felt another bone break yet the energy to scream was drained from me. The world around me became faded as the pain overwhelmed my senses. I was vaguely aware of the black feather that fell on the ground before me. I reached out and grabbed it, holding on as if it were the last comfort to me, which it was. However, in the midst of the all the pain, I didn't hear the door open. I didn't hear someone running toward me. It wasn't until I felt the cool hands against the burning skin of my side, was I conscious of another person on the rooftop with me. With no energy left my hands fell to the ground and I started to fall forward until I felt the same cold hands wrap around my waist to hold me up. My vision darkened and I began to fade out of consciousness. The pain disappeared as I heard my name being called out.

"Don't worry, Raquel. Your secret's safe with me." I blacked out.

**XxXxX**

**AN: CLIFFIE! Oooohhhhh how crazy! I'll try not to make the wait to unbearable.**

**MyDemonicSide**


	12. I'm Like a Bird

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.**

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

"When do you think she will wake up?"

"Hopefully soon. I'm pretty sure we weren't the only ones who heard her."

I woke to the sound of voices. There was a lingering pain in my head and my body felt so heavy, like a literal weight was on my shoulders.

"Why do you say that?"

"When I was walking through the hallway for the stuff you asked me to get I heard people mentioning something about screaming."

"But they are not going to come straight to her room. Even if they go up to the roof they are not going to know who it was that was screaming. We brought her in through the window, Jen. I'm pretty sure nobody knows who it was."

"Fine, Smarty pants. Don't need to get your g-string up in a bunch." I sighed in relief when I realized that the familiar voice was Jenny, the pink-haired, pink-eyed girl. A major headache came crashing down onto me and I groaned in pain. Though it wasn't as bad as the one I had earlier.

"Raquel? Can you talk to us?" I heard Jenny say. I slowly opened my eyes to a dim room with two people in front of me. The first was Jenny with her ever fluorescent pink hair and worry in her weird pink eyes. The other was a tan red-head with bright green eyes and shock written on her face. I then realized that I wasn't laying down on my bed but leaning back against it. My back still hurt from before but its dulled down to a throbbing pain. Which reminds me, how did I get here in the first place? What caused all of this pain? What happened to me?

"What happened?" I croaked out. Jenny and the red head in front of me looked at one another. Jenny cleared her throat and turned backed to face me.

"First, Raquel this is Kori. She brought you to your room. She was the one who found you." I looked at her now with a renewed conviction. She was, in a cliché way, my savior.

"Thank you, Kori." I said.

"You are very much welcome, Raquel. I am glad to have found you in time." Her voice was soft and gentle. I felt her sympathy and her gratefulness come off her in waves.

"How did you find me?" As she was about to respond she got cut off.

"Before we tell you anything I want you to see something… Though I'm a little surprised that you haven't felt it yet." Jenny walked to the door to get something. I noticed that my hand was clutching something tightly in its grasp. I loosened my grip to see a dirty black feather lying on my palm. Sort of weird cause I don't remember ever picking it up. Jenny walked back toward us carrying a full length mirror. She laid it down lengthwise, leaning it against the desk across from me.

"Jenny, what are you doing?"

"Just look." I was too tired to argue with her so I did what she said. I wish I hadn't.

For starters, I looked horrible. My shirt was gone, my black bra was stark against my pale skin, my purple-streaked black hair was in complete disarray, there were tear stains on my cheeks, and weirdly enough there was dried blood that ran down the front of my shoulders to right above my chest. But that's nothing.

Shooting out from my shoulders were two very large and very black wings. Yeah, I said it.

Wings.

But they were unnaturally beautiful. Almost like angel wings. I couldn't look away from them. However beautiful they were, these wings were the cause of the pain I suffered that night however long ago. I looked to my right to see them up close and personal. I reached out and slightly brushed my hand over the feathers. Instantly the wing reacted and bent in as if to avoid contact. Yet when I touched it, I felt the same reaction I do when someone touches me, I recoiled. After this realization I wanted to try something.

"Jenny, Kori. Can you guys help me up?" My voice was strong and determined. I outstretched both my arms and waited for the two to help me up. Kori immediately took my right hand and got ready to help me up. Jenny was a little hesitant.

"Don't you think you should rest a little more before you start standing up?"

"The sooner the better." I quickly responded. After another minute, she walked to me and grabbed my left hand. "On the count of three. One, two, three." Kori easily hauled me up yet Jenny had a few troubles. I tried to stand up but my legs were to weak and I had to be supported by the two to stay up. Once I was up, I felt the heavy weight of the wings on my shoulder. As if they were like my arms, I tried to bring them as close to my body as I could. I watched in the mirror as the wings slowly folded into my body.

"Woah…" Jenny gasped. There were looks of amazement on all of our faces. I suddenly felt drained of energy and collapsed onto Kori and Jen's shoulders. "Alright, why don't you lay down for awhile." They slowly helped me lay on the bed without touching my wings. Once I was comfortably situated, I spoke up.

"So, can you tell me what happened?" I asked. Kori spoke up.

"I was walking down the stairs from my dorm, on my way to jenny's room, when I heard a scream come from behind a door. I knew there was something terribly wrong so I kicked down the door and ran up the flight of stairs to the roof. I opened the door and saw you kneeling over with wings coming out of your shoulders and blood running down your back. I called out your name but you did not respond. I ran up to you just as you were about to pass out. I had a feeling that you did not want anybody to know so I called the one person I knew who would help keep your secret. I told Jen to meet me in your room and to bring some bandages. I needed to get you down to your room quickly so I… um… well, I flew from the rooftop to your room."

"You FLEW?"

"Yes. Raquel, I must be honest… I am not from this world. My true name is Koriand'r and I am from a planet named Tameran. On my planet, flying is as normal as walking for you. As well as the strength of a hundred men." Kori had a completely serious face as she spoke. There was no joking tone, no hint of amusement coming from her, just a straight face that remained stolid. I looked up to Jen to see any sort of surprise or smile to hint at any kind of joke but she remained silent. I was nothing short of confused.

"So you're from another planet?" Kori nodded.

"And you can fly?" Once again, she nodded.

"Is this a joke? Cause I sure as hell am not laughing."

"This is as much of a joke as the wings that are sticking out of your back." Jen said, a sudden fierceness in her stance. Kori kneeled on the floor in front of me, her head down in patience.

"I have lived on this planet for a little over 3 years with my sister, Komand'r. We promised ourselves that we would not tell anyone our secret for reasons I never understood. Yet when I found people who had 'powers', as you would say, then I felt I could confide with them. That is why I am telling you now. You now have a secret to hide from the world like Jen and I do." I saw Jenny cringe in the corner of my eye. "Is that true, Jenny?" Jenny sighed and uncrossed her arms. Her eyes started to glow pink and she snapped her fingers. The desk chair glowed pink and snapped in half, falling to the floor. I stared in amazement as she sat down next to me, defeat set in her shoulders.

"I call myself Jinx. My powers stem from bad luck. That's why I try to stay away from mirrors, black cats, ladders, salt shakers, and anything else you could think of that causes bad luck."

"But what about that mirror?" I said, referring to the one she placed in front of me. " It's reinforced with plexiglass so it won't shatter." I could only stare at her. I always thought people with powers came from comic books and movies, but they were very much real with the two people sitting right in front of me as prime examples. Now, as I sat on the floor thinking about all that has happened, I realized that I am just as much a part of the comic books as Jen and Kori were. But this is more real than I had ever imagined.

"So what do we do now?" I asked. Kori just shrugged. Jen got up from her seat next to me and headed to the door.

"Well, I am going back to my room to get a good nights worth of sleep and in the morning we'll talk more about our little situation." I didn't want to bother her cause she looked tired and agitated, for reasons unknown. Jenny walked out of the room with a small wave and shut the door. Kori still sat in front of me watching the door close.

"You can go too, you know?" I said.

"I know, but I want to stay here to make sure that you are okay." I could tell that she was genuinely concerned for me.

"Don't worry, Kori. I'll be fine."

"But will it not it be fun if we had our own sleepover with the two of us?" She was suddenly happy as a huge grin took over her whole face. The sudden change in emotion sent me reeling.

"Isn't it a little late for a sleepover. I mean I must've been out for hours."

"Just one." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I was only out for an hour?" She just nodded as if it were normal.

"So it's only, like, ten-thirty?" Kori once again nodded.

"Can you stop shaking your head?" Kori was about to nod again when she stopped herself in time. "I am sorry. I am told that I do that a lot." I sighed.

"It's ok." A sudden question came to my head.

"By the way, Kori, how did you know my name when you called out to me on the roof? I'm pretty sure we haven't met before."

"I was there the day you went into shock at the top of the staircase. I heard _Richard _call your name out—" she exaggerated his name as she said it, "—and I also saw him take you to your room, that's how I found out where your dorm was." That explained a lot.

" I must say, Raquel, that you have a good taste in men." I was suddenly racked with a coughing fit. I looked up to see a mischevious look on her face. I felt a whole lot of questions coming on.

"May I ask, is there something going on between the two of you?" I knew it was coming, but I felt I could only give her an honest explanation.

"You really want to know?"

**XxXxX**

**AN: So another chapter updated. The rest of the crew is starting to come into the story. Beast Boy and Cyborg will be in the story, for those of you who are fans of the two. But they might not show for another chapter or so. There will also be a few more surprises along the way. **

**I promise that I will try to update at least once a week. If you would… REVIEW!**

**Until next time,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	13. Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.**

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

I stared out the window as the plane flew over the City of Gotham. I almost felt relieved to be leaving Gotham. Although I was going to miss all the new friends I had made, I was returning back home where all my old friends along with wonderful memories awaited me.

Kori and I talked for the rest of the night about random things. It wasn't 'til after Kori left at around three that I forgot about Roger and the plane that was supposed to leave with me to Jump City by then. I called him up and apologized for missing the flight. I told him that I had tripped over a moving box and hit the back of my head against the side of my desk, waking up two hours later with a bad headache (I can't exactly tell him I passed out from the pain of wings sprouting out my back and that my new friends who found me screaming had powers.) I set a new time for 9:30 and hung up.

So now here I was, 30,000 feet above ground heading to Jump. With only 4 hours of sleep under my belt and 3 hours until we got to Jump, I closed the shade and tilted my seat back falling asleep.

**XxXxX**

"Miss Roth… Miss Roth."

I opened my eyes to see Louise, one of the two flight attendants on the plane. "Miss Roth, the plane has landed. Your escort is waiting for you outside." "Thank you, Louise." I wiped the sleep from my eyes as she nodded and started walking away. I straightened my chair and stood.

"By the way, Miss Roth," I turned to see Louise walking back, "There are some photographers outside of the plane waiting for your comments on the events of the past couple of days." I sighed and ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "I apologize, Miss Roth—" "There's nothing to apologize about Louise. It's not like it's your fault." I interrupted. She simply nodded and walked off. The damn paparazzi are ridiculous! They were at the airport where I left and now here. I wouldn't be surprised if they were at my house.

I walked up to the mirror in the back of the plane and checked my appearance. I was wearing my favorite pair of dark blue skinny jeans with my blue and purple high tops with a t-shirt from my dad's music studio and a black open vest over it. My hair was straight as usual with the purple streaks from the night that Nightwing saved me. My eyes were a dull violet and I wore little makeup. The best part was the absence of my wings.

Last night Kori and I tried to figure out different ways to hide them when I remembered about the voices in my head. I went back into my mind and, with the help of knowledge and my powers, was able to sink the wings back into my shoulders. It was only going to be temporary but it was the best idea yet. Once I deemed by appearance acceptable, I grabbed my ray bans and walked up to the door of the cockpit and said goodbye Roger. I walked up to the open hatch that led down to the ground and the paparazzi. I took a deep sigh, put on my sunglasses, and walked out.

**XxXxX**

**Richard POV**

"Hey Rich! Come here!"

"No!"

I was sitting in my dorm, playing guitar when my friend Roy called out from outside my room. Every time he called me over to his room I had to endure stories of his last girlfriend and how she was such a good lay but they broke up after a week of dating.

"Dude, your girlfriends on the tube!"

Now that's different.

I put my guitar down on my bed and ran over to his room. I walked in and saw the huge plasma screen across from him. Sure enough, there was Raquel surrounded by a bunch of photographers and camera men with some beefy black guy escorting her to, what I assume was, her car. I sat down next to Roy and watched as reporters spit out questions at her in rapid-fire succession.

"Miss Roth! Will you be taking over your father's business?"

"When is your mother's funeral?"

"Will you continue to go to school or will you take on your mother's responsibilities?"

She walked pass them as they kept asking questions. But after each question that mentioned her mother, she became more and more tense. Her jaw was tightly clenched and I knew that at any moment she was going to snap. Then somebody asked the wrong question.

"How did your mother die?"

Raquel stopped and turned to the reporter. Everyone went silent except for the flash of the cameras. Even with the sunglasses on you could feel the burning glare she directed at the man, "Sir. My mother just died a week ago. It's not a topic that I wish to discuss let alone think about." Her brow was furrowed as she turned her attention to the rest of the reporters. "For all of your questions, I will hold a press conference after my mothers funeral to answer them. Until then, I ask you to respect my wishes and Back Off." She practically growled out the end of the sentence. Suddenly, every one of the cameras that were flashing pictures spontaneously exploded. She sped off behind her bodyguard, ignoring the media as no one said a word. She was directed into the back seat of the black Denali that was waiting for her and her bodyguard got into the front seat. The camera turned back to a female reporter as the car sped off. You could see the frightened look on the reporters face as she spoke into the microphone with a shaky voice.

"As you can see, Raquel Roth is going through a hard time with the loss of her mother—"

"Well no duh, dumbshit! Of course she's going through a hard time." Roy interrupted. Shaking off the random exploding of the cameras I turned to Roy. I was surprised at how mad he got.

"Why are you all pissy?" He huffed and threw his arms up.

"Cause I hate how reporters always state the obvious… _AND_ how they're always up in everyone's business."

"I hate it as much as you do but it's their job. No matter what we say they won't stop. I'm surprised they didn't keep asking questions. What Raquel said must've really gotten to them." It was amazing the way she was able to silence the mob for once. She has a real hold over not only the hearts of the media but also the hearts of the people. As far as it goes with me, she's had a hold over my heart for longer than I can remember.

"Yeah, that girlfriend of yours is a heart stopper."

"She's not my girlfriend." Well, not yet at least.

"_Yet."_ Roy had this smug ass look. I was ready to beat that smirk off his face.

"Shut up. At least I'm not sleeping with a different girl every week." I bit back.

"Hey! It's not my fault the ladies can't keep their hands off me. I guess I'm just that gorgeous." He stood and walked over to the floor length mirror behind the door, admiring himself and making different poses. I swear he could be so vain at times. I stood and walked pass him to the door.

"Believe whatever you want. I'm going back to my room. You and your ego are taking up all the space in the room and it's making me claustrophobic." I walked out into the hallway ignoring whatever Roy was yelling out behind me. I walked into my room and picked up my guitar. I started playing but I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I could only think about Raquel.

I knew about her powers but I didn't realize how dangerous they were. I knew that the cameras exploding weren't just from a malfunctioning error. Raquel needed to learn how to control her powers and soon or else someone is going to realize that there's something unnatural about her.

I think she deserves a visit from Nightwing.

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

The car was finally pulling away from the giant mob we call the media. It still infuriated me at how… _disrespectful_ they could be! I mean, couldn't they acknowledge the fact that I didn't want to talk about the death of my last family member? No, of course they couldn't. They're vultures that feed on the body of the latest news that won't stop feeding until the last tissue of meat is licked off the bones.

"I'm sorry, Raquel. What the dude said was totally crossing the line." Victor, my bodyguard, said. He was not only the best bodyguard around but he was also my best friend and like an older brother to me. He was different from other people in how the whole right side of his body was made of metal and circuitry from a fatal accident he had a couple years back. But what made him the best was not only was he stronger than many grown men put together, but he was also smarter than most reputable scientists. He brought the best of brain and brawn together. He was one of the few people on this planet that were able to take my mind off the grim and make me smile.

"Thanks, Vic. I'm glad to have you with me again."

"Aw, it's no problem. Thought you might be interested in some of the things I've been working on." Did I mention he liked to experiment on himself and add modifications to his body?

"Like what?" He lifted his right arm and his hand suddenly started to shift. After a second, his arm had turned into a cannon looking thing. "What's that?"

"It's a sonic cannon. I was able to rewire some of the circuits in my arm and now I could blow away people within 20 feet and make 'em go flyin!" I chuckled. He always sounded like a little boy whenever he got excited.

"Better keep it ready for the next couple of days."

"Raquel, I'm not about to shoot everyone you come into contact with. If you really want to avoid the rest of the world, than when we get to your house you can stay there until the funeral." I was about to agree when I remembered what Raven told me the first time I met her, _you must go to the Buddhist Temple in Jump City. Inside you'll find a woman by the name of Azar and tell her that a little bird sent you. If she is the same person, than she would be more than happy to take you in._ I needed to get to the Buddhist Temple.

"Hey Jason. Can you take me to the Buddhist Temple?" I called to my driver. "Sure thing, Miss Roth." He made a sharp right and started heading east.

"Why do you need to go to a Buddhist Temple? Last time I checked, you were Catholic." Vic turned to look at me questioningly.

"I need answers and a reliable source told me to go to the Buddhist Temple in Jump City."

"… Fine. But I'm coming in with you." I smiled.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

**XxXxX**

**AN: Sorry for the late update. I've been having a little writer's block lately but I got over it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Obviously more and more of the gang is showing up. I have a few more that'll show up. **

**Please Review!**

**Sincerely,**

**MyDemonicSide**


	14. History

**AN: Sorry. :/**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.**

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

Victor and I stepped out of the car and walked up to the grand entrance of the temple. I stopped in amazement as we walked into the temple, seeing the beautiful sculptures and intricate engravings amongst the walls. Beautifully carved pillars surrounded the center of the temple. There were small sitting areas to the right and left outside the pillars. But what stood out the most was the large sculpture of Buddha, painted in gold. It was absolutely breathtaking.

A monk wearing traditional robes appeared to us and bowed in greeting, " Good Morning, Ms. Roth. Can I interest you in some tea?"

"Uhm... Sure, I would love some. But I'm actually looking for someone by the name of Azar, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find her?" I bowed in respect, surprised that he knew my name. The monk simply nodded and shuffled off. Vic turned to me.

"How do you know who this Azar person is?"

"I was referred to her by a friend."

"For what? Spiritual Enlightenment?" I sighed.

"I'll tell you soon enough." I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I turned to see an older woman who seemed to be in her late 60s. She wore her graying hair in a long braid, her face betraying her age, and her light gray eyes portrayed years of wisdom and immense knowledge.

"My dear Raquel, how much you have grown." She spoke in a soft tone.

"You look so much like your parents, especially your mother." That woke me up.

"How do you know my family? How do you know my name?" I hadn't said my name once and somehow everyone knows it! A small smile graced her face.

"It's a long story. I will tell you once we find a comfortable place to sit." She placed a guiding hand on my shoulder as we started walking to one of the small sitting areas to the right of the temple. Victor followed us, though not as quietly. The sitting areas were cut out of the floors with many pillows and cushions making it more comforting. We sat down as a tray of tea was placed in front of us.

"Before I begin, are you sure you would like your friend to join us?" She asked kindly.

"I'm not going anywhere." Vic stated, defiantly.

"I'm going to tell him eventually. Might as well save me the time."

"Very well, but I must ask you to believe everything I say and not ask any questions until the end. Do you understand?"

"Of course. But before you begin, may I ask how you know my parents?" She chuckled.

"I have known your father since he was a mere child and I met your mother when he brought her home to meet his family."

"So… are you like my grandma?" I had to ask.

"No, I'm not your grandmother, I was a very dear friend. I will explain everything. But first, I want to know… how much do you know about your parents' past?" She asked. Nobody had ever asked me that question so when I thought about it, I realized that I really didn't know anything. My mom had only told me that she was from Jump and she met my father in college. My dad just said that he grew up in Gotham, ran away from home, and traveled the world. I told this to Azar.

"Your mother told you the truth. She was born and raised in Jump City by loving parents. Went to a private high school and college. She did meet your father in college but he wasn't a student there. He was a wandering soul. She told me that when she first saw him, he was so beautiful she couldn't help but be drawn to him. Unfortunately, that is a common trait amongst our kind."

"Kind?" I questioned.

"Your father wasn't born here—"

"Yeah, I know. He was born in Gotham." I interrupted.

"When I say here I don't mean Jump City. I mean he wasn't born on earth."

…

…

What?

"Your father and I were born on a star called Azarath. It was a beautiful place with beautiful people. We believed in justice and pacifism. Your father was, in a way, royalty. His parents were head of the council Zinthos, named after our moon, that ruled over all of Azarath. He, however, was an explorer. He decided to go to earth after his training. As an heir to the council, he had to learn to harness his powers, which are more powerful than an average azarathians, and to train in combat should it ever be needed to contain a situation. He was only 17 when he left. Since we use gold as a means of exchange it sure helped him get around.

"He had traveled most of earth by the time he met your mother. He was 21 and she was 19. Your father was very much a romantic, so when he described your mother to me in a letter he said, 'For all the beauty in the universe, none could compare to the beautiful soul that has graced me with her presence. She has enchanted my heart and bewitched my mind and I am addicted to it.' That was only after their first date. It was love at first sight for both of them. They got married on the anniversary of their date 2 years after.

"When they had finally decided to start a family your father received a letter informing him about his parents fatal illness and that he must return to Azarath as soon as possible. This was the first time your mother had ever heard of it. He created a portal to Azarath and took her with him to meet his parents. They had named him heir to their position on the council so he and your mother could not go back to earth. Lucky for him, she grew to love their new home. A couple years later, they had a daughter— let me explain." She said, noting the confusion on Raquel's face. "Unknown to you, you had a sister. Her name was Raven. However, a rare gift came with her.

"All Azarathians share a power of telepathy and empathy, but she was much more powerful than the average azarathian. It is believed that those who head the Council of Metrion are the descendants of the gods themselves and no man could possess that power considering our gods were all women. Unfortunately, no woman has ever been birthed from that line and so when Raven was born we were amazed at her power. She was blowing up everything from left to right as a child. We then realized that it was her emotions that were controlling her powers. The monks of Azarath and I believed that anything that made her emotional must be taken away from her. So at the ripe young age of 4, we took her away from her parents and placed her in the temple. I have regretted that decision every day since."

"Using the methods of our church, we taught her how to control her powers. We told her to become emotionless. We taught her how to meditate to keep a handle on her emotions. We showed her different methods on how to express her emotions in small doses. However, her powers had developed into something we didn't understand. By the time she was 13, She was capable of telepathy and empathy plus telekinesis, the ability to project her soul into another's body, able to walk through walls, fly, teleport, heal… as she grew older we became more and more afraid. But when you were born we realized we had nothing to fear."

"Raven adored you. We let her be there when you were born. While you were sleeping she couldn't keep her eyes off you. I stood next to her, looking down at you. Out of the silence, she told me that she now has something to live for. Something to protect. She is the reason that you and I are still alive today."

"What do you mean still alive?" I asked, confused.

"When she was 16 and you were about 3 years old, your father had a case with the council dealing with a man who had been murdering people that challenged him on his rise to the head of the company that he worked for. There was enough evidence to let us go to his house and find anything more. He somehow had rigged an explosive in the house that was tripped and killed everyone including his wife and one of his sons. His other son had been out playing with his friends in the courtyard. When news got to him he swore revenge and escaped, taking his son with him."

"About a year later, a giant red demon came storming through the capital with the same man who lost his family to the bombing following underneath it. He had gone and summoned the demon Trigon from the 7th level of hell. The only person to stand up against the demon was your sister. It was a great battle, two opponents that were equally matched. Their battle gave us time to run to the escape ships that your father designed. Unfortunately, the power between your sister and Trigon became to great and the combination of the two destroyed the planet."

"Many Azarathians were able to get of the planet in time, including your family, thanks to your father and his design of inter-planetary ships. Your sister was saved from the rubble but she was too weak and died on the ship. You were only 4."

"After that, your parents came back here and left everything behind and started anew." I felt anger boil up inside of me.

"But how can they just forget something like that? Raven died for them and they didn't even care to acknowledge that fact!"

"They never forgot, Raquel. After Raven's death, they cremated her and planted a tree in her ashes. I'm sure you've seen it. The single Cherry Blossom tree in the middle of your courtyard?" Now that she mentions it I remember. I used to sit under it and read. Now that I think about, I'm sure I've seen my mom sitting in front of the tree multiple times.

"Yeah, I've caught my mom in front of it a couple times."

"I'm sure you did. The last Thursday of every month I believe. Your sister died on a Thursday. But they never forgot about her. I'm sure you remember what your mother used to call you?"

"My beautiful Raven." I whispered. I always wondered why she called me that.

"She told me that you reminded her of Raven." I sat there digesting the whole thing. First off, I had a sister. From another planet. And I was born on that planet. That planet is now destroyed and Raven's dead along with my father and now my mother. All were murdered.

"What happened to the guy who lost his kids?" I asked.

"He came here, unfortunately."

"How do you know?" She took a deep sigh.

"He was the one who murdered your father."

"WHAT! How could he? How did he even find us? Who is this guy?" This guy keeps coming back.

"His name is James Dimond." My heart froze.

"Dimond. As in the same Dimond who just kidnapped, tortured, and killed my mother? As in the same Dimond who decided to perform a science experiment on me and turn me into a FREAK?" If I had been paying attention I would've noticed Vic flinch at the word freak. I also would've noticed objects flying around the room, crashing into walls and people running outside.

"Raquel you need to calm down—"

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN, WHEN I JUST FOUND OUT THAT SOME MURDEROUS FREAK KEEPS KILLING EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY—" I felt a sharp pain in my arm as I slowly succumbed to blackness.

**Normal POV**

Raquel fell to the floor as a monk pulled a needle from her arm.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Vic erupted about to nail the guy.

"Victor, calm down. She needed to be knocked out. If she didn't control her rage soon enough we would've all been dead." Azar calmly said. Vic slowly sat down next to Raquel. He looked at her concerned.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Azar chuckled.

"Don't worry, Victor. She will be fine. We just used a minor sedative that will put her asleep for about an hour. I must tell you something though, Victor." He turned his full attention to Azar. "You must keep an eye on her. I fear that if she loses control we may all be in serious danger. Whatever Dimond injected into her system is more powerful then Raven's powers. Promise me that you'll keep an eye on her?" Vic nodded, determination in his eyes.

"I promise." Azar nodded.

"Good. Now let's take her into one of the back rooms."

XxXxX

**Raquel POV**

I woke up to the sound of voices… again. Only this time I was in a soft comfortable bed with no blinding lights, no crazy machinery or people, and my mother didn't slide out on a slab dead.

"She exhibits similar powers to Raven, we must try and use it."

"But we never even tried it on Raven. We have no idea how it is going to affect her."

"We must try… for her sake." I opened my eyes to see Azar conversing with the same monk that greeted me. "Good afternoon, Raquel. Did you sleep well?" Azar said.

"What happened?" I leaned up resting my head back against the headboard. I was in small room that was empty except for a desk and a bed. Azar grabbed the chair and set it next to the bed.

"You lost control of your emotions. We had to knock you out before anything dangerous happened." She said sitting down.

"Is this going to happen to me every time I get a little too excited?" I asked her. She looked a little hesitant before answering.

"Hopefully not… Raquel, before your sister died we were in the process of creating a piece of jewelry that, when worn, helps you control your powers. Now it was tailored for your sister but we— I mean - I believe it might work for you." She received a glare from the monk. Obviously he disagrees.

"How does he know about it?" I questioned. That was when he spoke up.

"After your little display I'd be surprised if the whole temple didn't know." I was so confused.

"But how—"

"Raquel, this temple isn't just a Buddhist temple. This temple is the residence of those who survived the destruction of Azarath." I looked up at him to see him nod his head.

"So everyone who resides at this temple is from Azarath?"

"Pretty much. Except for a few stragglers here and there who come seeking food and shelter." The monk replied.

"Antoni could you please bring the rings." He sighed in obvious dissatisfaction and left. I still had one more question.

"So how do you fit into all of this?" She turned to me with a small smile.

"I was a high priestess back on Azarath. I have been very close to the Roth family for many generations. Your father was my favorite."

"Generations?" she chuckled.

"Raquel, my dear child, I am much older than I look. So are a lot of the priests you see in here."

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"Well, the priests and priestesses are gifted with long life, so we can tell the tales of our times. For example, Antoni is 217. I am 352 years old."

"Wow." I whispered.

Antony walked in with a little black box, handing it over to Azar. She opened it and pulled out two rings. Both are in shape of a Raven (reasonably) with the wings outstretched along the band. One was all black with a ruby in the eye. The other was all white with an amethyst in the eye.

"Now Raquel, I want you to put these on. But be careful, we don't know the side affects,"

She placed them into my hand. I slowly placed the white ring on my left hand middle finger. I felt a small tingle in the left side of my body slightly growing. I took the black one and slowly placed it on my right hand middle finger. A sharp pain shot through the right side of my body. A small gasp escaped my lips as I felt the two feelings combine in my core. It started to fade back into a small tingly feeling over my whole body. It faded back into nothing as I looked up at Azar and Antoni. They were standing over my bed, both had looks of curiosity along with a little bit of fear and eagerness. I could feel their emotions radiating off them like a heat from a heat lamp. I suddenly felt stronger and more aware. Everything seemed crisper in my eyes and I could hear every intake of every breath.

"How do you feel?" Azar asked. How do I answer that question?

"I feel amazing! It's as though my senses have been… multiplied." I saw the slight twitch of the brow as they turned to each other.

"Raquel, I want you to think of something that'll make you feel. Happiness, love… anything positive." I tried going through anything that had been positive recently. Only one thing came up.

Richard.

He's been the rock through all of this. He's kept me from thinking of everything that's happened. He keeps me sane. He's been so wonderful to me. I can't help but wonder how he feels. All I know is that every time I'm with him, I can't help but feel more attracted to him. I guess I'm just falling more and more into like with him.

"It works." I looked up to see Azar and Antoni looking at me as if they just discovered a gold mine.

"What do you mean?"

"You're blushing with a rather large grin on your face. You're obviously feeling affection and nothing is happening." I looked around and noticed she was right. Nothing was floating around. Everything was the same. "You're lucky that this worked, Azar." Antoni said, walking out the room.

"Don't worry about him. He's just a little more paranoid than the rest of us. But he is right though. You are going to need some training so you won't have to depend on those rings all the time."

"Training? What kind of training?"

"Same that Raven received. We are going to show you how to meditate to subdue your emotions, how to release your emotions in small doses, and how to use your powers. We have someone here who helped your sister. His name is Baron. I like to think of him as a gentle giant. But you're going to have to stay here for the next couple of months."

"A couple months? I can't stay here that long. Not only do I have college but I have a life! I don't want to stay here!" I can't believe she would ask me to stay here for that long! I want to have a life!

"And you will have a life. Just not until you can control your emotions." How did she know what I was thinking?

"I'm a telepath remember. So is everyone else in this temple. So try and keep your thoughts nice."

"Why can't he come to Gotham? I can't just leave school right when it's about to start." She stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating the idea, I assume.

"I guess he could. But not only will he need a place to stay, but also a place to train you." I couldn't think of anywhere that would work. He obviously couldn't stay at the college. But it's not like we have a house over there… wait…

"We have a winter penthouse in Central Gotham that we used to go to when I was a little. My dad had an aerobics room along with a weight room built inside so he could workout. I don't know why we stopped going."

"That should be fine. As long as you can dedicate 3 hour training sessions, 5 days a week with him?" Damn. That's a lot.

"I'll try my best." She stared me down with her piercing eyes.

"I don't need you try, I need you to do. This isn't just another workout to stay in shape. These training sessions will keep you and the ones around you from harm. Do you understand?" There was complete seriousness in her tone.

"I understand."

"Now let me ask you again. Will you dedicate yourself to training?" I stared deep into her eyes.

"I will."

XxXxX

**A/N: Hey Peeps! I'm sorry that it has been awhile. I have finally been able to sit down and actually right this chapter. I've also gone back and revised every chapter. Most were just for some grammar mistakes but some have been revised a little bit more. As far as this chapter goes I've been having a lot of trouble with it, especially since it is soooo detailed. Please read and review. I am asking for criticism. **

**Raven Nevermore Evermore**: **Thanks for bringing that up. I actually did point it out but it was so subtle it was kinda hard to find. So I went back and made it a little more obvious. Thanks for the review. =)**

**Thanks for the love.**

**MyDemonicSide**


	15. Passing of a Loved One

**Disclaimer: Don't own the teen titans.**

**A/N: Hey Everyone! Thank you for all your patience and dedication to this story. I'm sorry about the wait over the past year. It's been a big one for me. I graduated from high school and recently moved into college a thousand miles away from home. Not to mention, I have a bitch of a class that's super intense. Hopefully, my writing will get better but I still encourage you to review on any mistakes on my part, questions on the story line, or even just to say hi. I love any advice that can be imparted. Once again thank you for everything! Enjoy!**

**XxXxX**

**Victor POV**

I was 15 when the accident happened.

My parent's were scientists at S.T.A.R. labs. One day, when I went to visit them, one of their experiments exploded, killing my mom and destroying more than half of my body, including half of my face. My father, desperate to keep me alive, used high-tech cybernetic parts to replace what was destroyed. Although, I was grateful to be alive, I had hated what I had become… a monster. I couldn't go back to my old school. I couldn't go back to my old life. As Victor Stone, I was the star linebacker of the football team, had the greatest girlfriend, and the best GPA. As Cyborg, I lived on the streets of Jump City, barely scraping by. I had hated my dad so much for what he had done, I left without so much as a couple hundred bucks and a duffle bag full of clothes.

It wasn't until 2 years later, that an angel came to rescue me from my hell.

I was walking down the street when a man came running at me, holding something under his arm. A woman behind him screamed that he had stolen her purse so I quickly stepped to the side and clothes-lined him, knocking him out cold. I grabbed the purse and handed it to the lady, but the moment she saw my face she screamed and ran away. I was used to it by then so I just sighed, pulled my hood farther down my face, and started walking again when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see a petite woman standing in front of me with a small smile on her face.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I couldn't help but notice what you did for that lady. Does that happen often?" She spoke in a soft caring tone.

"… um, yeah. Sometimes. Why?" She looked at me as though she was staring into my soul. It surprised me that she hadn't run away screaming by then.

"How old are you?"

"17." I quickly answered. The next question surprised me.

"Do you have a place to stay?" She stared into my soul.

"No." She had a thoughtful look on her face for a moment. "Would you like to?" It was a no-brainer.

"More than anything." She merely nodded her head in understanding and asked if I would like to stay with her. I agreed of course. She put a small hand on my shoulder and we started walking down the street towards a small black limo.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Victor Stone." She smiled and stuck her hand out.

"A pleasure to meet you, Victor. I'm Arella Roth."

4 years later, as I stand here over her grave, I can't help but think of that moment. Arella gave me a life. She gave me a family. She gave me someone who I came to call my mother. She gave me someone to care about. Raquel. She is like the little sister I never had. Maybe that's why Arella asked me to be Raquel's bodyguard. She must've known that I will do anything to protect her.

I put my arm over Raquel's shoulder. On the outside, she seems calm and composed but I can tell that she's about to breakdown. I look down at her hands and see the rings that Azar gave her. I'm glad she's wearing them. If she weren't the cemetery would be seeing more of the dead and less of the living. I can't blame her though. She's been through a lot lately.

Raquel decided to have her mother buried in the backyard, next to her father under the oak tree. There were a few people left over from the service still lingering around. Some of them being Bruce Wayne and his ward Richard Grayson. Bruce has been close to the family since before I came along. He probably dragged Richard along.

"Come on, Raquel. It's getting cold." The service had been over for about half an hour. Raquel nodded and signaled for me to hold on. She walked to the coffin, placed her hand on it, and mumbled a few words. It was a sad moment as she finished and walked back. I then noticed Richard Grayson walking toward us. I want to hear what he has to say.

**Richard POV**

(_2 days earlier)_

"How's Raquel doing?"

I turned away from the city and looked up at Bruce. He was looking out over the city as we have been for the past 15 minutes and he has the serious look he always has when on patrol so I couldn't tell if he said anything or not. It's always hard when he has his mask on.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her since before she left."

"How was she when you were with her?"

"She was fine. I could tell that she was heartbroken if the topic came up but I tried to steer clear." He was quiet for a second. "You need to make the effort, Dick. She obviously means more to you than you let on and if you don't tell her you might lose her."

"All this coming from the man who has never been in a relationship."

"I may not have been in a relationship, but I know how it feels to lose something you care deeply about." He looked at me. I've known him for the past 10 years. For the first time, he looked at me and there was hint of sadness written in the lines of his scowl. I suddenly felt bad.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. What about Diana? Are you still talking to her?" I tried to heal the wound that I obviously poured salt in.

"Let's focus on our work. We'll talk about it later." He turned back to the city, tuning me out. What a hypocrite! He discusses my 'love' life and when I try to talk to him about his, he completely shuts me out. But I'll get him to talk, eventually.

Like him, I turned to the city. We were standing on the tallest Wayne Enterprises building. There had been nothing serious tonight. A few thugs and robbers but nothing more. I was getting a little antsy-

_**You know you're a cute little heartbreaker**_

_**Foxey**_

_**You know you're a sweet little love maker**_

_**Foxey**_

I fumbled to get my phone out of my pocket as the ringer kept playing. I could see the little smirk that Bruce was sporting. "I wonder who that is." I shot him a glare as I finally answered it. "Hello?"

"**Hey Richard, it's Raquel."**

"Hey Raquel. What's going on?" Bruce gave a slight chuckle. I glared and flipped him off.

"**Nothing much. How are you?"**

"I'm good. Just talking with Bruce."

"**Oh really? Can you tell him I said thank you?" **

"For what?" What the hell did Bruce do that she would thank him for?

"**For last night. It was amazing!" **What the hell? I turned to him and he was actually laughing. "Bruce! What the fu-"

"**Richard, I'm just kidding. He sent me an e-mail the other day and I never got the chance to say thank you." **I could hear her laughing over the phone. I glared daggers at Bruce, "She says Thank You." He motioned for me to give him the phone. I did… reluctantly.

"You are more then welcome sweetheart. How are you feeling?" I could only watch as he nodded to whatever she was saying. "Well if you ever need help with anything just give me a call. Unfortunately, I have had more than my share." His tone turned grave and I knew immediately what he was talking about.

He has had to bury both his parents and Jason Todd. Jason was the one that killed him. He still feels it's his fault that Jason got killed. Jason was a kid Bruce adopted to be the next Robin. Unfortunately, he was doing it for the wrong reasons and ended up getting himself killed. Now, It's just Bruce and I. Whether or not he will have another Robin, I don't know. But he needs someone else in his life besides Alfred and I. That's why I keep pestering him about Diana. She cares deeply about him and he cares for her too, I can tell. He just needs to learn to trust again, if he ever will.

"Alright, well I'll give the phone back to Dick. You called him not me… Your welcome, sweetheart. Bye." He handed the phone back to me. "Hello?"

"**You're lucky, Richard. Bruce is a great father." **

"I know. I've had those moments with him where I see it." I looked at him and could see the small smile on his face. "So why'd you call? Not that I don't want to talk to you. It's just kind of random."

"**I called because I wanted to ask if you would come to my mother's Funeral? It would mean a lot-"**

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Raquel." I heard a sigh of relief.

"**Thanks, Rich. I appreciate it." **

"No problem, Raquel." Bruce shot up. "I would love to talk more with you, but something just came up and Bruce and I have to go."

"**That's fine, Rich. I'll talk to you later then?"**

"Yeah, I'll call you right before we take off."

"**Alright, I'll see you later."**

"Aight. Bye."

"**Bye."** I hung up and looked at Bruce. "Robbery on 2nd and Main. Let's go." We jumped off the building ledge and swept off into the night.

_(Present)_

I watched as Raquel mumbled a few lingering words to the coffin that her mother lay in. I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to hold her in my arms and tell her that everything was going to be ok. As she started walking back towards her bodyguard, I decided that I would talk to her. I left bruce's side and started to head over to her. I felt the guard staring me down. I don't blame him. My reputation as a playboy is rather intimidating to some. He whispered in her ear and she immediately turned toward me. Our eyes locked. I could see all the emotion she was locking up. I was a few steps away when she met me.

I opened my arms and she fell into them. That was when she broke down. I felt as much as I heard the tears pouring out of her. It was the most painful thing I had ever felt. Knowing that I could do nothing to soothe her pain but hold her. So I did just that and I held on tight.

**XxXxX**

**A/N: Whoever can figure out what song that ringtone is... just give yourself a pat on the back! =)**


	16. Drunk and Disorderly

**Disclaimer: Don't own titans. Never have but I will! (Not) =(**

**A/N: Hey Everyone! I'm not dead. I know it's been awhile so Thank you for sticking with me for the past 5 years. It's definitely been an interesting couple of years for me. I don't promise constant updates but I made a promise to myself that I was going to finish this story!**

**Once again, thanks to everyone who's been riding this rollercoaster with me. Hobey ho, let's go! (If you know where that is from you're awesome!)**

**XxXxX**

**Raquel POV**

She's gone.

I'm standing in front of her casket watching as if she's just going to get out and say "hey sweetheart. I'm not really dead. Now let's go and get ice cream." Heh. I'm too sarcastic for my own good. I want to talk to her again and tell her how much I miss her and that I need her to help me figure everything out. But I can't.

"Come on, Raquel. It's getting cold." Victor whispered to me. I nodded and walked over to the casket. I rested my hand on it, longing for the warmth that always came with my mother. It was cold as ice. I knew then and there that I would do anything and everything to feel that warmth again.

"For you mom. Everything I do is for you. I love you." I turned from her for the last time.

As I walked toward Victor, he nodded to the left and I looked. Richard was walking toward us. Just seeing him made everything that happened to me all the more real. He was there when I heard the voicemail from my mother's kidnapper. He was there when I was in the hospital. He made me forget and remember everything.

This past week and a half came bearing down on me as I fell into Richard's arms. He's helped me through everything without even knowing it. I held onto him as if he were my last support. As if he was the last thing that will save me from the abyss, and I did the one thing that I haven't done in a long time.

I cried.

I'm not one who usually cries (you can ask Vic that) but after everything that has happened I think I have a right too. And like the great friend he is, Richard held me tightly in his arms. I can't remember how long we were like that but it seemed like forever. The tears finally slowed after what was probably only a couple of minutes and I was slowly regaining my breath.

"Hey there." I looked up and saw a small smile on Richard's face and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thanks for coming to my mom's funeral. Sorry I didn't say Hi before-"

"You don't have to explain, I understand. As long as you're feeling a little bit better." He interrupted. I smiled, "I do, thank you." That's when I realized that we were still holding on to each other. I reluctantly let go and followed Vic (who seemed a little grumpy) back into the house with Richard and his father trailing behind us.

The after party was over, everyone had just left and the courtyard was empty. All I heard was the pitter-patter of rain against the glass roof and the clicking of heels against the Spanish tile. It was so quiet. I had taken to walking through my house, reliving my favorite moments. It was like reading a book, so many tales to be told in every room. But I came across my favorite, my mother's library.

It was 2-story circular room with a curving staircase to the second story. A large Turkish carpet covered the hardwood floors. A classic oak desk sat in the middle of the room and behind the desk was a glass wall that looked out over our land. A large leather chaise lounge sat in front of the fireplace, my chair that I use to read in when my mother worked at her desk. The walls were bookcases filled with any kind of book you could want. Science fiction, history, non fiction, biography, languages, crime, fantasy, do it yourself books, self learning books, old books with yellow pages, classical literature, you name it we had it. I loved the classical literature and history sections. Those were my favorite. Another thing my mother in I had in common, we loved the same literature.

With a sigh, I walked out of the library into the pub room. As I walked in, I saw Richard sitting at the bar with a glass of scotch in his hand and a full glass bottle next to him. He looked over at me and raised his glass with a small, sordid smile on his face. I walked over and sat down next to him.

"Would you like a glass?" He asked. He looked really sad and somber, like he needed a friend. "Sure. You shouldn't be drinking alone anyways. " He reached over and grabbed a glass from the counter. I poured myself a hefty amount. He laughed, "Gee, heavy drinker?" I took a swig. "My dad and I would watch games in here and he'd let me have something to drink; A beer, a shot, a glass of scotch. He said that it was to build my tolerance for those crazy college parties that I was bound to go to. But at that moment, I could drink only with him around. Of course sometimes, I would start feeling a little funny and he would laugh at me then my mother would take care of me, chuckling all the while." Looking down into my glass, I couldn't help but laugh and remember my father's deep laugh and my mother's light chuckle.

"This was my father's favorite drink." Richard said. I looked over and his smile was gone. He downed the rest of his scotch before pouring himself some more. "Whenever he could, my father would buy some good scotch. He let me try it once. I was only a kid. It was after one of our performances at the circus. He would always have a glass then. For some reason one day, he asked me if I wanted some. Nodding, he gave me his glass and I gulped it down being the stupid kid I was." He chuckled taking another sip. "I was practically coughing my lungs out and he was laughing so hard." Sip. "My parents were murdered a week later."

He was crying. Tears were streaming down his cheeks but his face remained emotionless. I knew how he felt. Those things that reminded you of your loved ones never went away. It probably wasn't the best way to forget, but I knew something that could help the both of us.

I walked around the bar and grabbed the Grey Goose and 2 shot glasses from the cabinet. When I came back around he was wiping the tears from his face. "Let's drink to the memories of our parents." I poured him and myself a shot. I grabbed the glass but Richard still that there, motionless. I lightly turned his face toward mine. When he looked at me, I could see tears gathering in his bright blue eyes. I didn't like seeing the pain, the loss that he felt and I knew that he could see it in my eyes too. I didn't want to hurt anymore and being with Richard made me happy. "Please Richard, I would like to hear more about your parents." After a moment, he took the glass.

With a toast we started tipping them back.

**A bottle of Grey Goose and a couple of beers later…**

My shoes were gone and my coat tossed to the side. His tux jacket was gone, his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened. We were sitting on the counter playing a game of speed, albeit unsuccessfully due to the fact that we were both pretty drunk. It was only 2 hours later and we had been retelling stories from our childhood. I had just finished telling a story of the time I played beer pong with my mom.

"Dude! We should play beer pong!" Rich exclaimed out of nowhere. "I'm so down! The beer pong table is downstairs in the garage though." Rich looked at me like I was crazy. "You have an actual beer pong table? I've always just used the dinner table."

"Of course I do. My mom got it for me. The day after we played, ***buurrp** I came home and it was sitting in the garage. She got it painted in black and purple just for me." I could feel the crazy drunk grin on my face. I took a swig from my beer and I could feel his heated gaze on me. "You know, we still haven't gone on our date yet." He had his smug smirk back on his face. "Is this not a date? Were having a conversation over drinks." I took another swig. "We're at a funeral after party, having a drunken babbling contest, and playing cards. This is not the kind of date that I want to take you out on. Not that I'm not having an awesome time seeing you completely drunk!" He chuckled as I stuck my tongue out at him.

The room had started to spin so I laid down along the length of the counter relishing the cold marble against my drunken-heated skin. It felt sooooo good! "So when is this amazing d-" Richard suddenly appeared over me, his body hovering over mine, inches away. His strong arms placed on either side of my head, one knee between my legs and the other hanging off the side of the counter. His face was flushed red from drinking, his lips were slightly parted in a small smile, ready to be kissed, and his eyes… oh, his eyes. They were a stormy blue as if I could see the conflict within him. What that conflict was, I don't know. But I couldn't help but stare into them.

He had started to lean down and I let him. I was still, not knowing how to react. I knew that I wanted this, wanted him. But I was also really drunk so I could've been a little horny. Who knows? I brought my hand to the back of his neck and l could feel his body getting closer to mine. I closed my eyes as his lips met mine-

"RICHARD!" He was off me before I could say shit. I looked over and Bruce Wayne was at the doorway to the library. He looked slightly amused at our current situation. I looked over at Dick and he looked pissed… and disappointed. "It's time for us to go. The jet leaves in 30 minutes." He walked away, shaking his head in amusement.

I gathered myself, standing from the countertop and fixing my dress. I chuckled to myself as I put away the drinks and glasses. Rich had pulled himself together and was throwing his coat on when I looked at him again. He met my gaze and we stood like that for a second. Me, leaning on one side of the counter, while he, stood on the other. "I guess I have to go," he said. "I guess you do." I replied. He walked around the counter to meet me and took my hand.

"Promise me that I'll see you this weekend and we'll finally have our date."

"I promise." A smile crept its way onto his face. "Okay. I'll see you then." Without warning, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. As he leaned back, I stared at him in surprise. He just winked and walked away.

"That Bastard."

XxXxX

I had told reporters that I was going to hold a press conference after my mother's funeral. So here I was, outside my childhood home ready to speak to a throng of reporters. I was sitting to the side next to victor as my mother's press secretary spoke, talking about what had passed.

"You'll be great." I turned towards Vic as he gave me a thumbs-up. I had just been announced so I took my place at the podium and faced the mob.

**Richard's POV:**

It was an iconic image. The strong and composed Raquel Roth standing in front of the press with her home in the background. But I knew that was just a façade. I knew that she was broken and tired after a long couple of weeks of loss and pain. But in this world, there is no such thing as vulnerability, only strength. I watched from the living room of Wayne Manor as Raquel answered questions.

"Who will run the family business while you are away at school?"

"For the moment, our esteemed chief of staff Dahlia Miller will take over. She has been with the business and this family for over 20 years. She has been as much of a mentor to me as she has with her employees. I respect her to take over for the moment until I gain the ability and knowledge to return."

"Ms. Roth, We have seen your company's stock drop 17% in the last week since the news of your mother's passing. Do you believe it will continue?"

"No. Although my mother's passing is… hard, I believe that with her passing comes a new beginning. It gives us room to grow and branch out into other ventures and possibly create a new image." Good answer.

"Ms. Roth, how are you doing?" That's a weird question. Apparently, Raquel thought the same thing. "That's a weird question." This gained a chuckle out of the crowd.

"I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't expecting that. But… I'm doing okay, I guess. As good as anyone can be when his or her mother passes away. My friends have been a stronghold for me this past week and I couldn't be more lucky to have them." I could see her struggling to keep it together.

"Does Richard Grayson count as one of these friends?" Hahaha, do I? I could see her slight blush and small smile at the question.

"Richard is a dear friend of mine. He's been nothing but supportive for me this past week. So yes, is he one of these friends." Ouch. Friend zone. That's not going to work. I'll just change it up this weekend. "Hey Dick." I looked up to see Bruce sitting down on the couch. "Watching Raquel's press conference?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to see how she was doing." She looked like she was doing pretty well too. "She'll be fine, dick. She's a strong girl and can handle herself." He turned off the TV.

"Come on. It's time for training."


	17. Baron

**Disclaimer: Don't own the titans.**

XxXxX

I was flying back to Gotham U slightly hung-over from last nights drinking escapades. I still couldn't believe that I had completely let down my guard like that in front of Richard. Not that it wasn't fun, especially that look on Dick's face when Bruce walked in on us. Haha, priceless.

Although I was slightly hung-over, the press conference went over smoothly. Nothing I couldn't handle. The question about Richard wasn't surprising. We have been seen together out in public multiple times. This weekend wasn't going to help.

The plane was just settling on the Tarmac in Gotham. IPod in hand and ear buds in place, Victor and I walked off the plane to the airport. As I walked towards the car I could see some huge guy wearing orange and red robes.

"Hello Raven, my name is Baron. I will be the one training you." He said in a deep, soothing voice… like Michael Clarke Duncan deep. "We are going straight to training for your first lesson. You do not need to worry, it's not going to be that hard." Frickin mind readers. "I'm coming with you," Vic said. Baron smiled.

"Of course Victor. Now if we could please be on our way. The sooner we get started the better."

45 minutes later Baron, Vic, and I were riding the elevator to the top floor. It was weird being in an elevator with these guys. Both were the definition of gentle giants; big burly men but silent and thoughtful. Baron seemed to be very wise (although he could be hundreds of years old which kind of helps in the wisdom department).

But after our long ascent we finally reached the top floor. The elevator opened up into a small lobby, with the double doors to my penthouse straight across from the elevator. Baron pulled a key out of his pocket and opened the front door.

A small foyer greeted us with family photos hanging on the walls. Most of them Christmas portraits, but others were candid photos of our family. The door to the training room was immediately to the left. To the right was an open kitchen with a dining room that had large windows that looked out onto the city. Immediately past the kitchen was a staircase that led to the rooftop terrace and a hallway that led to the bedrooms.

As we walked into these rooms, everything was nice and clean. Not a speck of dust anywhere. Has someone been living here?

"Azar sent someone ahead of us to clean the area. From what we could tell no one had been here in a long time."

"Are you going to comment on everything that I think of?" It was really getting annoying.

"Do not worry. If I were to comment on everything you think of, I would never be quiet. Especially about that Richard boy." Godammit, I was blushing. He gave a deep rumble of a laugh. "For now, let us drop off your things here and head into the training room. Victor, if you could stay here for now. We won't be long." Vic nodded as I sat my things down in the kitchen.

The training room had been completely remodeled. When I was younger I remember the floor to ceiling windows on one side that my parents used to sit in front of when they were meditating and the floor to ceiling mirrors on the other. There used to be a punching bag and speed bag at the opposite end of the room that my dad would spend most of his time using not to mention the giant rack of weights that they both used. However now, it was completely dark save for the light coming in from the foyer. It looked like there was padding on the walls. Everything was gone.

"For our safety we padded the walls. You will understand when we begin." Baron walked past me into the center of the room holding something. I followed him in.

"Please close the doors."

"But there's no lights-"

"Trust me." I followed his instruction. As soon as I closed the door, he lit a small candle. "Please join me." I sat across from him in the center of the room, the candle between us. "This is a sage-infused candle and next to it I have some lavender incense, both of which has calming properties that will help us today." The smell of lavender and sage wafted around me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, taking the time to relax.

"Today, I am going to teach you to meditate." Out of the silence he spoke. I opened my eyes and the dim light illuminated his face. "For Raven, this was her key to keeping her emotions under control. If you do not master the art of meditation, you will lose control of your emotions and wreak havoc upon everything around you."

"But what about my rings? I thought that was what they were for." I questioned.

"You should not rely on your rings for everything. If you can learn to meditate, you will not need them. Now, before I teach you, I need to see how well your control is of your emotions at the moment. Please remove your rings." He said calmly. I looked down at my hands, afraid of what might happen.

Slowly taking off the white ring, a small pain started in my hand, creeping its way into my shoulder. I also started to hear a small buzzing noise similar to a swarm of bees. Taking off my black ring, the pain grew into both my shoulders and the buzzing noise in my head grew to a jumble of incomprehensible voices. In my shoulders it wasn't a searing pain but more unpleasant. It was like a growing tension that was pushing against the skin of my back and I knew what it was. Luckily, I wore a sports bra so I took off my shirt. There was a sharp pain in my back that lasted a second and then was gone. I was so preoccupied with the weirdly painful sensation in my shoulders that I didn't even notice the claws that had grown out of my fingertips. The pain in my back had stopped but the voices in my head kept growing louder and louder. I still couldn't understand anything they were saying and I could feel the migraine coming on. With my head to the floor, I couldn't take it anymore.

"SHUT UP!" Everything went silent.

"Sorry." I could hear one of my emotions say. I heard a small chuckle come from somewhere that wasn't my head. I looked up and saw baron sitting there patiently, looking past me at the wings that had just sprung from my back. I wonder what I must've looked like with my head to the floor, giant black angel wings sticking from my back, and metal claws protruding from my fingers. Past him, the padding on the walls had been completely torn.

"Raven used a little bit more expletives to quiet her emotions, none that I would repeat. If you do not learn how to control your emotions, however, what has happened to the padding will happen to things around you but ten times worse. To keep Raven's emotions in line we taught her an ancient azarathian chant that us monks use to maintain peace of mind. I will do the same with you. If you could…" he pointed to the claws that were sticking out of the ends of my fingers. Closing my eyes and concentrating, I could feel them sink back into my fingers. "Thank you. Now do as I do" He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees, thumb and middle finger touching. I mimicked this pose. "Close your eyes and repeat after me." I did as he asked.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos"

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos"

XxXxX

After about 30 minutes of chanting we finally stopped and I felt completely calm and relaxed. I had forgotten about everything and completely cleared my mind, including all the voices of my emotions. Baron spoke out of the silence, "Before you open your eyes, I must ask you to stay calm. What you may see is somewhat surprising". With this in mind I opened my eyes. I tried to not freak out but it was hard. Baron and I were floating a good foot off the ground.

"It's normal so do not worry. It's a side effect of meditating." We slowly descended to the ground. "This is all I will show you for today. You should wear your rings for now until you can fully control your emotions." That's probably a good idea. We stood up and started for the door. "I want you to meditate for at least 30 minutes everyday and I will know if you are meditating or not so do not slack off. Lucky for you, you do not need to come back for 2 weeks." Thank goodness. "By the way, your wings are beautiful, angelic." I didn't know how to respond. My wings are a little bit of a sore spot for me.

He opened the door and as I tried walking through something stopped me. My wings were still spread open stopping me from walking through the door. Downcast, I tucked my wings into my back and walked into the foyer. Looking up, I saw Vic staring at me in astonishment. I forgot he had never seen my wings and I hated the way he was staring at me.

Startled, I ran back inside the training room and locked the door. Taking off the rings and falling to my knees, I cried "Knowledge, help me! Please!"

_Calm down Raquel. I will help you just calm down. Deep breathes._

Taking her advice, I slowly took deep, filling breaths.

_Good. Now say the mantra that baron taught you and imagine your wings sinking into your shoulders. _

After a few moments of deep breathing, I imagined my wings sinking into my back.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." I could feel my wings grow smaller and sink into my back. I couldn't even describe the feeling. It was like a tickle of feathers against my skin combined with the pressure so something pushing onto my back. It was weird. "Thank you"

_Your welcome. By the way, you have a guest. _

I turned to see Vic standing behind me, mouth agape with a look of shock in his eyes. I put my rings back on and stood up. "I'm a freak okay? I wish you had never seen-" He cut me off with a hug. One thing I loved about Vic was his hugs. He was a great hugger that could make you feel safe and loved, and that's how I felt.

"Your not a freak, your just a little different. Either way you're still beautiful." He said. I hugged him a little tighter. Letting go from the hug, I could see the tears that were building in his eyes. "We can be freaks together."


	18. Nightwing

XxXxX

I was sitting in my room back at the dorms. Vic and Baron had just dropped me off about 20 minutes ago, and I've been listening to music and playing guitar since.

There was a sudden knock on the door. I opened it to see Richard, wearing a black wife beater, red basketball shorts, calf high socks and sports sandals.

"Uh… hi."

"Hey Rae, how are you doing?" He said, leaning against the doorframe. "Rae?" I asked confused.

"Yeah! Raquel is too long for me so I thought I'd give you a nickname. Is that ok?"

"No. Don't call me Rae. And I'm fine, thank you for asking." I said. "Rae it is!" he cheered, walking past me into my room.

"Come on in, I'm not doing anything." Closing the door, I turned to see Rich dive onto my bed, a small smirk on his face as he turned to me, "Good job at the Press Conference by the way. Although I must say that I'm not a big fan of the whole 'Richard is a friend' thing."

"Why is that?" I said, leaning against my desk. "Because A) I know that you want this hot bod, B) I'm pretty sure that everyone on this planet wants us together, and C) we have yet gone our date that you promised me and I'm pretty sure friends don't go on dates." I blushed at that last part.

"First of all, you look like a douche bag right now. I mean, really? Basketball shorts and high socks make you look ridiculous. Second, I'm pretty sure the entire feminine world would hate me if I started dating you. Lastly, as you must've noticed, I've been kind of busy for the past week so I haven't exactly had time." Excited, he jumped off the bed. "Then how about tonight? Before anything else happens, we can have a night to ourselves with no one else to worry about." He was so cute when he got excited. His smile bright and energetic, bright blue eyes staring back at me.

"Tonight? I was kind of hoping to just relax especially after these past couple of weeks."

"Okay, fine. How about tomorrow night? It is a Saturday night."

"Why are you so eager to go on this date?" It was kind of annoying how incessant he was about this date.

"Is it so wrong to be excited? I have a wonderful night planned out for us and I want to experience it with you." I couldn't help it. I blushed. I looked down to try and hide it. He gently tipped my head up to face his. His smile was gorgeous. "Come on, Raquel. What do you say?"

"Fine." His face lit up like fireworks on a night sky, his big bright smile and happy blue eyes overwhelmed me. In a burst of excitement he lift me up in his arms hugging me tightly and laughing. Seeing him this happy I couldn't help but smile. After awhile he finally set me down. "So tomorrow night, just you and I, a trip around the town?"

"Yeah"

A screech came from my door. Moving away from Richard, I opened it to not only jenny and kori, but to at least 3 other girls leaning against the door. "Really?" I said, looking at Jenny and Kori. "It's okay, I'll leave. I got what I came for and it seems you need your girl time." Rich said from behind me, "I'll text you later with the details. See you tomorrow." He planted a small kiss on my cheek as he walked past me. "Ladies." He greeted, than left, walking with a skip in his step. I looked at the faces that were grinning at me. "You, us, sleepover, here, 10 minutes. We are talking about what just happened." Jenny stated walking off as all the other girls ran to their rooms. I was left alone in my room. Richard knew exactly what he did when he kissed me. He sparked a fire and left me alone to burn at the stake. But I couldn't help but smile.

"Richard, you son of a bitch."

XxXxX

_**10 minutes later…**_

My room had been transformed into some girly slumber wonderland *cough* nightmare *cough*. A large comforter was placed on the floor along with a shit ton of pillows and a pink fluffy beanbag (that I naturally assume came from Kori). Popcorn was being popped and there were plenty of sugary sweets that I was not going anywhere near. Everyone was wearing their pj's (some a little more risqué than others) and we were sitting in a circle on the ground.

"I don't mean to be rude but who are you guys?" The 3 other girls that had eavesdropped along with kori and jenny were still unknown to me and yet they were sitting in my room.

"Oh! Sorry about that. Rae-Rae this is Karen Beecher, Terra Markov, and Donna Troy." She pointed to each of the girls. Karen Beecher was a dark-skinned girl with her hair in two buns wearing a yellow oversized t-shirt top with black spandex shorts. Terra Markov was a skinny almost frail looking girl with her long blonde hair up in a messy bun, wearing blue flannel bottoms and a black cami. Donna Troy was a big woman. She was probably 6 feet tall and built, not in a masculine way but pretty toned. She was wearing short shorts and a dark red tank top. Jenny and Kori went a little risqué. Jenny was wearing a magenta off the shoulder crop top, exposing her flat stomach with black cheeky panties. Kori wore a pink nighty. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Now tell us what we want to know." Jenny said in an interrogative voice.

"Like what?" Jenny threw her hands up in exasperation. "You're joking right? Especially after we all saw Richard walk out of your room looking like he just scored big time."

"Haha, yeah. In his dreams."

"In pretty much every girl's dreams. I'm not gonna deny that even I've thought about doing the dirty with him," said Donna with a small blush, "Doesn't help that Bruce is dating my sister."

"Who's your sister?" I asked, hoping to get away from the topic of Richard.

"Diana Prince."

"I knew that they were dating!" exclaimed Karen.

"You're not getting away that easy, Rae. Are you saying that throughout your entire life, you've never had a wet dream about Richard?" asked Jen.

Fuck. I couldn't say no cause that wasn't true but I didn't want them to know that. Lucky for me there was a knock on the door. "Saved by the bell, huh Rae?" Jen said with a smirk. I glared and flipped her off just as I walked to the door. Why are there so many people coming to my room tonight?

I opened the door to three guys. The first was the well-known Roy Harper, adopted son of the billionaire Oliver Queen and notorious playboy. He was another child heir like Richard and I so i've seen him more than I would've liked over the years. Here he was at my door, annoying me like he always does. He was leaning against my doorframe with his stupid smirk, perfectly sculpted red hair and strong arms crossed over his chest. Behind him was another redhead that was more lean that his two counterparts. He had a big smile on his face and was kinda cute. Lastly was Mr. tall, dark and handsome. He was tall with a swimmers build, long black hair, and dark brooding eyes. The way he stood just commanded attention, maybe even rivaling Richard. If I wasn't involved with Richard, I would've fallen head over heels for this guy.

"Hey Raquel, having a slumber party? That's not like you." Roy smirked. "Just having a couple of friends over for some innocent fun. Nothing that concerns you." He scoffed, "There's nothing innocent about a group of barely dressed college girls hanging out. Especially you…" he trailed off giving me a once over. I didn't think I would see anyone else so I dressed for bed… in spandex booty shorts and a fitted tank top, neither left anything to the imagination.

"Hands off pretty boy, that's Richie's property." I swear I was going to kill Jen. Then I heard speedy sigh, "Yeah, I know."

"What! How do you know?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if the whole dorm knows by now." Said the redhead. If Richard told these idiots I'm gonna bury him along with Jen. "If Richard told you-"No, no, no! He didn't say anything. Actually, it's the way he didn't say anything." The redhead kid looked scared to death of me.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Dude looked like he just scored… big time."

"Told ya." I gave Jen the darkest glare I could muster. "Not helping, Jen."

"Not to mention everyone knows about the completely obvious sexual tension between you two." I felt myself becoming more flushed by the second.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Kori interrupted, stopping my murderous train of thought. Tall, dark and handsome spoke up, "We're here on behalf of the sports program. We're going door to door trying to get more people to come to our games. I'm Garth and I'm on the swim team. This is Wally and he runs track. It seems you know Roy, but he's here for the baseball team."

"Don't forget the Archery team. They would be nothing without me."

"You're so humble Roy, I don't know how you do it." Said Wally.

"Hey! Maybe when you guys are done with your rounds, you can hangout with us." I could practically feel Jen's sly smirk from behind me, not to mention I saw a wide grin spread across Wally's face. "Sounds like fun." Roy winked past me as I heard Kori giggle. I seriously started to feel like a window. "Last time I checked this was my room and I'm not trying to throw a party right now."

"What's this I hear about a party?"

Please… someone save me.

"Hey Rich! You gonna join this party?" Richard walked up, leaning on Wally's shoulder. "Sure, didn't know you were a big partier, West? And Rae Rae, I'm surprised your letting this happen." At this point I could feel the migraine coming on. "I'm kinda outnumbered here. Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Are you kidding? The more time I get to spend with you the better." He pulled me into a strong one-armed hug that made the girls behind me giggle. "I hate you."

"Its okay, Rae-Rae. I know you love me." He practically squeezed the life out of me. "What are you doing back here anyway?" "We live on the same floor and I have to pass your room to go to the bathroom. Isn't it wonderful?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his peppiness. "Give us 20 minutes and we'll be back." He motioned for the guys to leave and walked out behind them. Then I saw it. The way Richard was walking; head high, hands in the pockets of his shorts, chest out, and a slight exuberance to his steps. This walk that Roy and Jen mentioned that looked like he just had sex and now I understood what they meant. I'm going to have to talk to him about that.

As soon as I closed the door after them the girls started squealing like high school gossips. "If it's not too much to say, you and Richard are so cute together!" Tara squealed. "That man is going to be the end of me. I swear he tries to embarrass me on purpose." I felt the pressure of a migraine coming. "I'm going to grab some fresh air. This mutiny is taking a lot out of me." I grabbed a baggy sweater while slipping on some sandals and opened the door to leave. "Try and be back in time for the boys." Jenny sang with a sly smile and a wink as I closed the door.

I found my way up to the rooftop. A cold breeze hit me as I opened the door to the roof. The horizon was dotted with the city lights of gotham. It was just the kind of peace and calm that I needed. I sat down close to the edge and took in the view for a couple of minutes. I closed my eyes and got in my meditative pose.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos"

"Raquel?"

Annoyed, I turned to see Kori walking out of the rooftop entrance. "Yes, Kori?"

"I was wondering if you were doing okay? I was worried you were mad at us." She seemed genuinely concerned. "I'm fine, Kori. Just overwhelmed."

"May I ask what you were doing?" She walked over and sat down next to me. She was also wearing a baggy sweater and her legs were exposed to the cold like mine. "I was meditating. Unfortunately, my wings come with uncontrollable emotions and I need to meditate to calm them."

"May I join you?"

"Sure. Cross your legs and place your hands on your knees like how I'm doing." She followed my instruction with a small smile on her face. "Now repeat after me:

Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

We sat like that for well over 20 minutes. I could feel my nerves calming and the pressure in my head being relieved. After awhile I opened my eyes and saw Kori floating off the ground. It was still kind of weird to me that she was different, that she had so-called 'Powers'. But we were one in the same.

"Come on, Kori. Let's head inside." She looked at me and nodded. She looked like she was about to fall asleep.

"Thank you for letting me join you, Raquel."

"Thank you for joining me. It's nice having someone who understands what I am going through."

"HEEEELP!"

Kori and I turned as we heard a woman's voice cry out for help. We ran towards the side of the building and looked out over the edge to see a girl pinned to the ground by a large man.

"Shit Kori, we need to do something!" I turned to look at Kori and gasped. Her eyes were emanating a bright green energy, like the black energy that came from me. Her smile was gone and her brows were furrowed in anger.

"Stay Here." For the first time since I met her, I watched as she flew down to the girl in need.

"Don't worry, she does this a lot."

I swung around to confront the deep voice behind me to see the one and only Nightwing. This was the first time I had seen him since the night he saved me from dimond and even then I never had the chance to actually see him. Time seemed to stop as I took in his appearance. He stood at an imposing 6"2 a couple feet behind me with broad shoulders and a strong chest. Even through the black suit I could see the definition in his arms and abs. As my eyes trailed down to his powerful legs i just noticed that he was walking towards me. Hands behind his back with a look of determination on his face, the same look as Kori, he walked up next me and looked over the edge.

"What do you mean she does this a lot?" I questioned. "There have been reports of a woman with green eyes who confronts sexual predators in the middle of attacks." "Just sex offenders?"

"Apparently." We watched on in silence as Kori floated down to the ground in front of the attacker. Thank goodness for my enhanced hearing as I listened on.

"Leave now." Kori said. The man looked up from the girl and flinched back, startled. After a moment he regained his composure. "Leave? I'm getting to the best part." He returned his attention to the woman below him. I saw Kori's eyes burn brighter and in the blink of an eye she ripped the man off the girl and slammed him into the side of the building. I felt the tremors reverberate through the building and watched as a couple pieces of brick fell off the side from the force of Kori's blow.

"Should we stop her?" I turned to nightwing. "No. He's unconscious at this point and usually she takes them to the police." She took off from the ground but instead of flying off to the police department she flew straight at us. She landed softly on the rooftop next to us, unconscious man in her grasp. She gasped at the appearance of the man next to me.

"Don't worry Starfire, I just need to speak to an old friend." She exclaimed in amazement, "How do you know my name?" Nightwing shrugged, "It's my job to know. If i'm not mistaken you have somewhere to be."

"Yes. Raquel, will you be okay by your lonesome while I take this man to prison?"

"Yeah, kori. I'll be fine." Kori nodded and with one last glance back at Nightwing she flew off. As I watched her disappear into the night I couldn't help but feel like something was bothering me. Nightwing seemed off. His aura felt distressed (and somewhat familiar). When I looked at him his gaze focused on Kori and yet his face looked troubled.

"I need your help." I looked at Nightwing in shock. "For what?"

"I'm looking for the man who killed your mother."

XxXxX

NIghtwing POV

I watched as her face tensed in pain of a traumatizing memory. Obviously a memory she wanted to forget. "How?"

I almost flinched at the pain in her voice. With just one word, I could almost feel all the pain she was trying to bury. I tried to keep a straight face as she glared daggers at me.

"We haven't been able to track him down with evidence he left behind at his lab and no new leads have come up. I need to know everything you do about this man." I watched as her face softened. "What if I didn't know anything?" "Then I would leave... Do you know anything?" It was obvious by the conflict in her face that she knew something. But I was hoping that she would divulge it without my incessant prying. After a moment, she sighed coming to terms with the conflict in her mind.

"I'll tell you everything I know."

It was amazing to hear her story. She told me everything, from her trip to the buddhist temple in Jump City to how she was born on another planet to the death of her forgotten sister. She told me how this man Dimond had a vendetta against her and her family since before she was born. It was everything I needed to know and more.

I watched her as she spoke and her face remained completely monotonous the entire time. However, she kept sneaking glances at me every once in awhile. At first, I thought it was to gauge my reaction to her story but it was something different. Every time she looked up she seemed confused. I wish I knew what she was thinking.

"That's everything I know." I watched her as she sat in silence. I wish I could comfort her somehow but I'm not Richard right now, I'm Nightwing. "Thank You." I stood up getting ready to leave. "Wait!" I turned to look at her. "I want to be there when you find him."

"NO."

"How do you expect me to just sit by while you-"

"I don't want you to get hurt." I don't know what made me say it but I couldn't help it. I've said too much. I looked away, afraid she might read the emotions on my face. "I'm not risking your life because you want revenge. I'll find him for you, I promise." With a glance back, I jumped off the rooftop. The look of amazement ingrained in my memory for the rest of the night. I don't know how I'm going to face her in 10 minutes.

XxXxX

**Author's Note: Long time! I've been working on this chapter for the past year so if it seems a little all over the place that's why. But for the next chapter its up to you, the reader. Should I write an extra chapter about what happens in Raquel's room with the group? Or should I go on to the following day and just hint at what happens? Either way it helps the story so whatever you want!**

**I'm trying to finish this story before the end of my senior year of college. I want to get it done for all of you. I've made it my mission! **

**By the way, to any and all who read this you should watch Arrow on CW. I just started getting into it and there are so many references to some teen titans characters it's awesome! Slade, Brother Blood, Roy Harper, Speedy… I love this show! (just saying)**

**Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me throughout the years. It's been fun and I hope you get to see this story to the end. **

**I love you all!**

**Truly yours,**

**MyDemonicSide**


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